“American Dreamz” (Universal Pictures)
Dreamz Is A Nightmare!
“American Idol” is a TV show that is ripe for being ripped off or being made fun of. From the smarmy judges to the dewy-eyed contestants, there is an abundance of satirical material waiting to be mined. In “American Dreamz” an effort is made to spoof it all. Rarely has a comical effort fallen so flat. “American Dreamz” is a comedy nightmare!
In the film Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore) is a contestant on “American Dreamz.” She is a conniving young woman who is willing to do whatever it takes to win. Her boyfriend William Williams (Chris Klein) is supportive of her dreams but she is really tired of him and just wants him to disappear. He is so heartbroken by her rejection that he joins the Army and is immediately sent to Iraq. There he is wounded. Sally can always use a wounded soldier as a boyfriend so she welcomes him back.
Meanwhile an Arabian named Omer (Sam Golzari) gets mistakenly picked to be on the show along with Sally. Omer is visiting in American and doesn’t know much about the American way of life. Some of his friends back home draw him into a plot to kill the President of the United States (Dennis Quaid). This assassination is supposed to take place on TV when the President crowns the winner of “American Dreamz.”
Do you get the idea of how stupid this all is! It starts out dumbly and goes downhill from there. A lot of the humor is downright silly, and the rest of it is offensive and/or in bad taste. The assassination attempt is the low point.
Hugh Grant is cast as a Simon Cowell type character named Martin Tweed. Grant is so good in his role that you actually flinch every time he comes on screen. There is never a redeeming quality to the man and you feel that anything bad that comes his way is deserved.
Quaid is a bumbling idiot as the President, and Marcia Gay Harden is patronizing in an imitation of Laura Bush. Willem Dafoe plays a man who is a cross between Cheney and Karl Rove. He is a bumbler too.
There have been political satires in the past that have found their mark and made their points – in a funny and entertaining way. This film misses its mark every time it takes a shot. It is silly and insensitive, and worst of all deadly dull.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and comic violence.
The acting in the film is okay, but the sets and the costumes seem to have come from a rent-all company. The whole look of the movie is cheap. Maybe they spent all their funds on getting the talent to participate.
Don’t be lured into thinking this is going to be a fun film just because actors of the caliber of Quaid, Grant and Harden are appearing. Who knows why they took these roles, but it couldn’t have been because of the quality of the script.
“American Dreamz” is so inane it is sleep inducing. You will be telling your viewing companion to wake you up when it is over.
I scored “American Dreamz” a nightmarish 3 out of 10.
