A brief look at acting in our next scheduled film

Students,
    I was originally planning to compose a complete analysis of Dustin Hoffman's Oscar-nominated performance as Stanley Motss in Wag the Dog but decided that would require a lot of writing and (on your part) a lot of reading! So I decided to focus just on the first time we see Motss in the film and related issues.
    I would also like to briefly mention star packaging. Many people buy tickets to see two stars together for the first time, seeing how each star and his image reflects off of, or interacts with, the other.
    For example, how will John Wayne look in a film with James Stewart? How will Angelina Jolie interact with Leonardo DiCaprio. These match ups are certainly one reason viewers pay to see movies.
    In Wag the Dog we get to see two of the most respected method actors of the last half of the 20th century together for the first time. For fans, they get double their money's worth. For the critic, it's interesting to watch two good actors interact, observing their strengths and weaknesses.
    Despite Hoffman's Oscar nomination, I don't think either his or DeNiro's performance is memorable, just good. Besides, the Academy often mistakes the role for the performance. In other words, voters vote for the character, not necessarily for how well the character is acted.
    There is nothing in Hoffman's performance to indicate distinction. There is no (acting) "choice" that Hoffman makes that seems more than routine.
    To be fair to Hoffman, he's limited by a shallow script that avoids going too deeply into character. Robert DeNiro smiles cynically throughout, Hoffman plays a typical, somewhat effete, producer, with little to distinguish him or give him a larger personality. And Anne Heche's role as the lead woman character is mainly nonexistent and mostly built on reaction to what the male characters do.
    Notice that when Hoffman finally resists giving up credit for his role in the "reality" he produced, it seems unmotivated, both by Hoffman and by the script. Surely Motss knew all along he would not receive credit, and was repeatedly warned of this by Brean (Robert DeNiro). Yet the script required him to suddenly become irate over not receiving credit, while Hoffman has to do his best to "motivate" or "justify" the character's anger. But the entire sequence seems unconvincing and more a function of the plot than the other way around, which is what good drama should be. In other words, the character should cause the plot, not the other way around.

---