Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Willie Nelson, William H. Macy, and Andrea Martin Directed by Barry Levinson Rated R, with profanity Running time 100 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 8 out of 10

(Jan. 9, 1998) -- Nothing like a little war to divert the public's attention. That's the darkly funny premise of "Wag the Dog," Barry Levinson's hilarious satire on politics, spin control, the press and show business.

When the President has a sexual encounter with an under-aged girl who's touring the White House, his staff has to act quickly. After all, the election is less than two weeks away.

That's when they call in a master spin doctor, Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro). His solution? The APPEARANCE of a war with Albania. Why Albania? "Why not?"

"It won't be a real war," Brean insists, "More like a pageant." But, he hopes, it'll be enough to get the President's indiscretion off the front pages.

To create his bogus conflict, Brean turns to Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman), a fabled Hollywood producer who lives in a house bigger than the White House and who takes meetings while lying on his tanning bed.

Once he understands what's required, Motss rises quickly to the task. "I haven't had this much fun," he says, "Since live TV."

And whenever another world crisis threatens to intervene, Motss assures them, "This is nothing. Try working with three Italian bimbos, strung out on benzadrine and grappa."

Motss soon conceives an entire war campaign, complete with a stirring video image of a supposedly Albanian refugee fleeing the horrors of rape. (She's really a Hollywood starlet, filmed in front of a blue screen). He also hires songwriter Johnny Green (Willie Nelson) to compose a memorable theme in the tradition of "We Are the World."

Motss and Brean also recruit a "hero," a soldier known affectionately as "Old Shoe," who is left behind enemy lines. But then, the soldier selected at random turns out to be a psycho from an army stockade, imprisoned for raping a nun. (He's played in an hysterically funny uncredited cameo by Woody Harrelson).

Motss' reaction? "No problem."

"Wag the Dog" is adapted by screenwrier Hilary Henkin from the novel "American Hero" by Larry Reinhart, and features a major script polishing by the distinctive David Mamet.

Director Levinson, De Niro and Hoffman all reportedly made the film on a small, $15 million budget as a labor of love -- and it's easy to see why. The film offers a fabulous double-barreled blast of satire, simultaneously shooting down politics and show business, with additional pot shots at the media.

Though it runs a little out of steam in the final reel, "Wag the Dog" is still the funniest and most refreshingly irreverent black comedy to hit the screen in a long time. And De Niro and Hoffman inspire each other to first-class performances.

De Niro plays Brean as rumpled, easy-going, confident, and consistently brilliant. (It's fun to see the actor play a bright guy -- De Niro's characters usually survive on instinct and emotion, NOT brains.)

Hoffman, meanwhile, is clearly in an actor's paradise, getting a chance to skewer the self-important, super-ego mentality of the Hollywood producer.

(Favorite Hoffman moment: Motss insists he be allowed to finish telling an unimportant, irrelevant anecdote before taking a phone call from the President of the United States. "I'm talking here. Isn't anyone listening?" he says.)

Among supporting players, Anne Heche is very funny as a White House chief of staff who just keeps rolling with the punches. Willam H. Macy, though, is under-used as a suspicious CIA chief. (I suspect more of his work is on the cutting room floor.)

In truth, "Wag the Dog" may contain a few too many references for Hollywood insider -- Motss, for example, is clearly modeled on veteran Tinseltown producer Bob Evans. For those who get the references, the jokes hilariously hit the bull's eye.

But, as Motss would say, "No problem." There's enough broad-based humor left over for everyone.

Nothing like a little war to divert the public's attention. That's the darkly funny premise of Barry Levinson's hilarious satire on politics, spin control, the press and show business. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Anne Heche co-star. New Line. 100 mins.