American Dreamz (2006, DVD)

American Dreamz is a lame political satire based around a mock American Idol television show. Hugh Grant plays the Simon-like character while Mandy Moore plays the leading contestant on the show. In addition, Dennis Quaid plays the goofy President while a bald-headed Willem Dafoe plays a Cheney-like character. I had high hopes for this movie, but found it boring and unfunny. Don t waste your time on this box office bomb.

The movie begins with Grant s character breaking up with his girlfriend. This scene is supposed to establish the character as being shallow and arrogant, but it seemed way out of place. Wouldn t it have been better to demonstrate his personality as the story was told, rather than practically hang a sign around his neck that says Hate me ? Next, we meet Mandy Moore s self-absorbed character and her goofy boyfriend played by Chris Klein. Moore is one of those people who will do anything for the camera, and she uses others and manipulates her way to stardom. Naturally, Grant s character loves her because she s just like him. Then there is Quaid playing a parody of Bush who just got re-elected and decides to take it easy for a while and stay in his bedroom reading newspapers. Willem Dafoe plays a puppeteer type who even gives the President an earpiece so he can dictate what he needs to say in public.

With all of that going on, what really brought the movie down was the idea that we are supposed to laugh at terrorists. One of the other contestants on the show is a goofy Iraqi who was too inept to get through a terrorist training camp, so his leaders sent him to live with cousins in America and await instruction. When this Iraqi ends up landing a part on the TV show, some members of a sleeper cell show up to inform him that he must make it to the final round and then strap on a homicide bomb to kill the President. You see, in order to boost his ratings, the President had agreed to be a judge in the final round of the show.

You d think this movie had the potential to be funny, but it just wasn t. Most of the jokes were dumb and I did not laugh once in the last half hour, which was supposed to be the big climax on the American Dreamz television show. Plus, am I supposed to laugh at a character who makes a vest out of C4 explosives? Since when is a Presidential assassination, especially while this country is at war, supposed to be funny? Here s an example of one of the movie s jokes: Somebody asks the Iraqi what he s going to say to the President when they meet, and he responds, I m sorry. That s horrible! What s next, a comedy about the twin towers?

I love a good satire, if it s done right. I think Dr. Strangelove is one of the greatest movies ever made. The reason it worked so well, not counting the stellar cast, was that its main characters were more like caricatures than actual models of real people. This movie makes the connection to real people too obvious, and that takes the fun out of it. A good satire should make you think about who the filmmakers are trying to poke fun at, not rub it in your face.

This movie was written and directed by Paul Weitz, who has an otherwise excellent track record of successful films. He directed the original American Pie movie, About A Boy, and the recent Dennis Quaid movie, In Good Company. I know Weitz can handle drama and comedy well, but I think he let his political leanings get the best of him with this movie. I don t know where he thought this movie was going or how many people would actually enjoy it.

I could get into the ultra-liberal mindset that hates the President so much that they think it s okay to joke about killing him because they truly want him dead, but I won t. Suffice to say, this movie sucked. The DVD has a few extra features, including commentary and deleted scenes, but I had no interest in watching them.