W2m Network

Tonight’s Triple Feature is a director spotlight on Barry Levinson, a filmmaker whose career is as quietly influential as it is stylistically fluid. We’re looking at three of his most potent and thematically rich films: Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Sleepers (1996), and Wag the Dog (1997). While these movies differ wildly in tone—ranging from manic comedy to grim drama to razor-sharp political satire—they’re united by something deeper: a fascination with storytelling as both a tool of survival and a weapon of manipulation.To understand how these films fit together—and what they say about Levinson himself—we need to start with the man behind the camera.Who Is Barry Levinson?Barry Levinson emerged from the 1980s auteur boom with a distinctly humanistic voice. A Baltimore native, Levinson first made his mark as a screenwriter, penning ...And Justice for All (1979) and Diner (1982), the latter of which marked his directorial debut. He quickly carved out a niche making intelligent, character-driven dramas with sha