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Review of Wag the Dog (Mark Knopfler)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... only if you're a fan of Mark Knopfler's standard, extremely easy-going guitar performances and don't care about the other music in the film.

Avoid it... if you, like most people, are seeking any of the witty and clever Willie Nelson songs performed in the film itself.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Wag the Dog: (Mark Knopfler) One of Barry Levinson's lesser known but hysterically funny films was Wag the Dog, a witty 1997 satire about the frighteningly blurred line between politics and Hollywood. During a presidential reelection campaign, an incumbent American president is hit with a sex scandal, and so, as you might expect, the White House hires the world's best spin doctor to save the campaign. That concept in and of itself isn't outrageous, but in the role of that spin doctor, Robert De Niro takes it to the next level. He engineers a fake war between the United States and the obscure country of Albania in order to change the focus of the American people. While no military action is actually being taken, Hollywood is employed to stage the war for television, which, as we all know about American politics, is all that matters in a campaign. The devilishly conceived plot is obviously exaggerated for the purposes of black comedy, but the basic premise of the film is surprisingly poignant. One important aspect of any political campaign, of course, is music; anybody who witnessed a campaign stop by Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley in 2000 is still trying to figure out why he used "Mambo #5" as a theme song. In Wag the Dog, part of the Hollywood machine engaged by Dustin Hoffman's crew makes use of a drugged up Nashville singer played by --no shocker here-- Willie Nelson, and Willie's wholesome-sounding songs of unity are just the thing for a political campaign. While the songs steal the show in Wag the Dog, mostly due to their lengthy screen time and Nelson's uncanny ability to whip up a song to answer any political need, there is a short but distinct role for Mark Knopfler's original score. The more you think about it, the more you realize that Knopfler, whose solo music for the album "The Golden Heart" was a Levinson temp track in the film, was an intriguing choice for Wag the Dog. Instead of returning to Hans Zimmer's associates for the genuine heartland guitar music, why not turn to the (ironically British) Knopfler, whose folk and country-laced music is about as saturated in lazy Americana as a ballpark hotdog is in ketchup and mustard.

Most people will be familiar with Knopfler only to the extent that his score for The Princess Bride (and mostly just the main themes for it) made waves with teenagers a decade earlier. His music for Wag the Dog is similar in ensemble and recording quality as the light guitar themes in that previous score, making for some remarkably easy listening if you're inclined to turn your brain off long enough to do so. There aren't any dominant themes this time, though... just pleasant rhythms and motifs on Knopfler's own guitar performances that repeat for several minutes with a light band ensemble and occasional electric organ as backing. His standard wet-sounding recording quality gives the album the ambience of a live performance necessary to float the spirit of these compositions. Knopfler does a surprisingly good job of altering each cue for the emotion of the individual scene, especially in the more grim tones of "An American Hero," without ever losing that overwhelming feeling of nationalism that his music conveys. You'll be singing "This land is my land" during "In the Heartland," a somewhat obvious showing of where the inspiration comes from. But there's nothing really wrong with that. The best Knopfler score cue is "Working On It," with a slight edge of cunning process carrying over from the title song vocals in the cue before. Knopfler's score only amounts to 19 minutes on album, and that album makes the absolutely fatal mistake of clocking in at only 24 minutes and featuring none of the Willie Nelson and ensemble song performances from the film. This inexcusable flaw in the album is not Knopfler's fault, and there are easily understandable legal reasons that were probably behind the absence of Nelson's contribution on the soundtrack album, but from the perspective of the listener, the album is an extremely disappointing experience as it stands. There is a reason why you see so many copies of this score for extraordinarily low prices in used CD bins; everyone bought it in early 1998 thinking the funny Nelson songs would be on it and they were instead treated to a very short presentation of decent, but non-sustaining Knopfler music. Even some movie dialogue, as smart and clever as it is (especially from the two leads) could have helped save this album. If you're not a devoted Knopfler fan, then what's the point?

• Score and Songs as Heard in Film: ****
• Score as Written for Film: ***
• Album: *
• Overall: **

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 24:13

• 1. Wag the Dog - performed by Mark Knopfler (4:44) • 2. Working on It (3:27) • 3. In the Heartland (2:45) • 4. An American Hero (2:04) • 5. Just Instinct (1:36) • 6. Stretching Out (4:17) • 7. Drooling National (1:53) • 8. We're Going to War (3:23)

NOTES & QUOTES:

Lyrics for the title song and a list of participating band members are included on the insert notes.

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