I seldom like Barry Levinson movies...actually, I can't think of a single one I've liked...but seeing David Mamet in the writing credits immediately raises it all a notch or 2 in my opinion. As Irishgit mentions, it is over-the-top and seemingly improbable to naive laymen like me, but, considering what HAS transpired in American politics during the past several decades, maybe it isn't. Robert DeNiro, who hasn't really done much "acting" during the past decade or so, and Dustin Hoffman, always interesting to watch, are the 2 main stars. A lot of other notable people make a brief appearance or 2-- Kirsten Dunst, Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, Denis Leary, Anne Heche, Andrea Martin (far too talented a lady for only a brief spot in a movie like this), and William Macy. Entertaining, but not as "entertaining" at what passes for political reality these days in America.

This is a hoot! You have to suspend your belief just a tad, but it is wickedly funny. Although it took place off-screen, feeding the spin to the morons at the press conference is a howler.

Nasty, scurrilous, over-the-top. I loved it. The cast in general turn in fine performances, and the story has an implausible plausibility to it. This is the favourite movie of a lot of professional political apparatchiks.