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Year: 1997
Director: Barry Levinson

Cast:

Dustin Hoffman (Stanley 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 Charles Young), John Michael Higgins (John Levy), Suzie Plakson (Grace), Woody Harrelson (Sergeant William Schumann), Michael Belson (President), Suzanne Cryer (Amy Cain), Jason Cottle (A.D.), David Koechner (Director), Harland Williams (Pet Wrangler), Sean Masterson (Bob Richardson), Bernard Hocke (Technician), Jenna Byrne (Sharon), Maurice Woods (Kid with Shoes (as Maurkice Woods))

Storyline:

When an unnamed president of the United States is caught in a closed room making advances on an underage "Firefly Girl" (the fictional equivalent of a Girl Scout) less than two weeks before re-election, Conrad Brean (DeNiro), a hired political gun, is brought in to try to take the public attention away from the scandal. He decides to construct a fake war with Albania, hoping the media will concentrate on this instead. In order to come up with his 'war', he contacts a Hollywood producer named Stanley Motss (Hoffman), who brings in a series of specialists who help construct a theme song, build up interest, and fake some footage of an orphan in Albania. The plan's continual setbacks – including having to use a criminally insane Army prison convict (Harrelson) to be their "hero" who was "shot down behind enemy lines" – do not disturb the producer, who repeatedly claims "This is nothing" while comparing the situation to a past movie-making catastrophe he averted. In the end, with the election done and the president re-elected, everything seems fine - until the producer finds out from the news outlets that the media are crediting the president's win to his tired "Don't change horses in mid stream" campaign slogan, rather than Motss's elaborate plans. Motss announces that he will call the media to "set them straight," despite Brean's warning him that he is "toying with his life." When Motss refuses to back down, Brean has him killed and makes it look as if he had a heart-attack while tanning next to his pool. The film ends with a news report about a violent incident in Albania, but it is unclear whether this is a true event or simply a continuation of the fictional war.

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