BREAN
What's the thing people remember about the Gulf War?
A bomb falling down a chimney. Let me tell you something:
I was in the building where we filmed that with a 10-inch model made out of Legos.
MOTSS
Is that true?
BREAN
Who the hell's to say?
I watched Wag the Dog again last night, and I´m thinking how incredibly forward looking this film truly was. Made in 1997, Wag the Dog was considered Prophetic in light of the Monica Lewinski and subsequent Iraq bombings, but take another look at it now.
Remember the scene when DeNiro (Breen) and Anne Heche (Ames) are taken in by the CIA? Remember the dialog about the war of the future with CIA agent Mr. Young?
BREAN
Why do people go to war?
MR. YOUNG
Why do people go to war?
MR. YOUNG
I'll play your silly game.
BREAN
Why do they go to War?
MR. YOUNG
To preserve their Way of Life.
BREAN
Would you go to War to do that?
(PAUSE)
MR. YOUNG
I have.
BREAN
Well, I have, too. Would you do it again...? In't
that why you're here? I guess so. N'if you go to war
again, who is it going to be against? Your "ability to
fight a Two-ocean War " against who? Sweden and Togo?
Who you sitting here to Go To War Against? That time
has passed. It's passed. It's over.
The War of the
Future is Nuclear Terrorism. It is and it will be
against a Small Group of Dissidents who, unbeknownst,
perhaps, to their own governments, have blah blah blah. And to go to that war, you've got to be prepared. You
have to be alert, and the public has to be alert.
Cause that is the war of the future, and if you're not
gearing up, to fight that war, eventually the axe will
fall. N'you're gonna be out in the street.
(PAUSE)
And you can call this a "drill," or you can call it
"job security," or you can call it anything you like.
But I got one for you: you said, "Go to War to protect
your Way of Life," well, Chuck, this
(HE GESTURES AROUND THE ROOM)
is your way of life. Innit? And if there ain't no
war, you can punch out, go home, and take up Oil
Painting.
And there ain't no war but ours.
Prophetic.
Watching it again makes me wonder, wonder, wonder about September 11, 2001. Makes me wonder about the cynical manner of American politics. Makes me wonder what the hell really happened that day in NYC.
This is a great film. Go out and rent it and watch it again now that America is fighting a War on Terrorism. Go. NOW!
Cast
Dustin Hoffman .... Stanley.R Motss
Robert De Niro .... Conrad Brean
Anne Heche .... Winifred Ames
Denis Leary .... Fad King
Willie Nelson .... Johnny Dean
Andrea Martin .... Liz Butsky
Kirsten Dunst .... Tracy Lime
William H. Macy .... CIA Agent Mr. Young
John Michael Higgins .... John Levy
Suzie Plakson .... Grace
Woody Harrelson .... Sgt. William Schumann
Roebuck 'Pops' Staples .... Himself (as Pops Staples)
Jay Leno .... Himself
Merle Haggard .... Himself
James Belushi .... Himself (as Jim Belushi)
Drena De Niro .... Gate Stewardess
Robert De Niro .... producer
Barry Levinson .... producer
Original music by
Tom Bähler
Mark Knopfler
Screenplay by:
Hilary Henkin
David Mamet
Trivia:
"why change horses midstream" was originally a campaign slogan for Abe Lincoln during the civil war.
The political talk show at the end of the film lists its phone number as (1-800) 555-0199. This number is also Lester Burnham's office number in American Beauty as well as Lowell Bergman's fax number in the film The Insider.
sources:
http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0120885
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~lontano/scriptsa/wag-the-dog_production.html