American Dreamz
Studio: Universal Pictures Distribution
Rated: PG-13
Website: http://www.americandreamzmovie.com/index1.html
Release Date: 2006-04-21
Cast: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Willem Dafoe, Chris Klein
Director: Paul Weitz
Screenwriter: Paul Weitz
WorkNameSort: American Dreamz
Our Rating: 2.00
Distasteful though it may sound, there’s strong comedic possibility in grafting suicide-bomber politics onto the warbling self-promotion of the American Idol era. To make it work, though, you need to keep the jokes coming fast and frantic, which is just the opposite of what writer/director Paul Weitz (About a Boy, In Good Company) has done here. In his labored satire, a reluctant Islamic martyr (Sam Golzari) slowly advances to the final round on a top-rated talent show, competing with an all-American-bitch of a contestant (a lisping Mandy Moore) for an opportunity to shake TNT-wired hands with the President of the United States (Dennis Quaid). It all trudges by at a funereal pace that lays bare the lack of true inspiration behind the self-conscious naughtiness. And despite Quaid’s well-observed doofus mannerisms, the movie errs badly in depicting the prexy as a well-meaning naif who would do the right thing if his handlers would let him make his own decisions a characterization of Dubya that neither his supporters nor his detractors recognize. So who’s this movie for, the magenta states?
This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2006.