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| Year: 2006 |
| Director: Paul Weitz |
| Cast: Chris Klein, Dennis Quaid, Hugh Grant, Jennifer Coolidge, Mandy Moore, Willem Dafoe, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Bernard White |
| Genres: Musical, Comedy |
| Runtime: 107 min. |
| IMDB: This film on IMDB |
| Soundtrack: available |
A satire who focuses on reality shows like American Idol. Sally's dream is to become a music star and to participate in American Dreamz show. In order to achieve this, she leaves her boyfriend and mixes up with the host of the program. Meanwhile, an Arabian boy travels to the USA to visit their relatives and, accidentally, he becomes a participant of the show. The president of the USA is kind of depressed, but the vice president comes up with the idea of a live presentation in the show. |
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| Date: 2007-10-04 01:17:36 |
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"American Dreamz" is first and foremost a satire on pop culture America. This movie is based around the television series American Dreamz which is the highest grossing show not only in America but around the world as well. The show is hosted by Martin Tweed, (Hugh Grant) a heartless man who is just doing the show for his own selfish reasons. American Dreamz is about to start its new season and as they go through the casting process they pick a southern girl named Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore), an Arab named Omer (Sam Golzari) and many others. But that's not all the movie focuses on, it also focuses on President Staton (Dennis Quaid) who has just gotten reelected but is finally beginning to wonder what's going on in this world he is supposedly running. As the president begins to question his role, Vice President Sutter (Willem Dafoe) signs President Staton up to appear on the season finale of American Dreamz so he can redeem his image to the American Public. Bold and funny moments ensue…
"American Dreamz" is a very ballsy and brave movie. At times it is so hard to realize you're watching a movie that was made by the big Hollywood studios because this film mocks everything about their culture and thinking. I think this film will be appreciated by very few because people will not be able to look at this film for what it is, a satire. The movie mocks so much about our current country from the television show American Idol to George Bush and Dick Cheney. I feel so few will be able to understand that this film isn't to be taken seriously, since it mocks issues that are happening in real life.
What I liked best about "American Dreamz" was that it mocked everything and everyone. From rich America to white trash America no one was safe. The movie mocks the United States as well as Iraq. It mocks fashion, music, television and so forth. It's a brave movie for being able to mock all these things because I can see so many people getting ticked off by the film.
But forget about everyone else for a moment, this review is based on my thoughts and I found the film to be incredible. It is one of the best movies I have seen so far this year. The film provides a lot of laughs and never drags on. The movie wants its audience to be able to laugh at themselves, something that Americans tend not to be able to do so well. It's a brave and comedic satire that pulls all the right punches and is based around a show that is truly something that everyone in the world is aware of.
Hugh Grant is terrific as Martin Tweed, the foul-mouthed, uncaring, fame seeker who doesn't care about anyone but himself. He pretty much mocks Simon Cowell from the show "American Idol" and I think he does this well. Mandy Moore is terrific as well and I think after a few more roles like this and "Saved!" she will start being recognized in Hollywood. Her character Sally Kendoo is pretty much a female version of Martin Tweed. She is uncaring, she wants fame, and she doesn't seem to care about anyone but herself. Not to mention she is a perfect mockery of such pop icons like Britney Spears and Carrie Underwood. Dennis Quaid does a great job impersonating President Bush and actually makes a more likable President in my opinion then the real George Bush. Also Willem Dafoe is the perfect mockery of Dick Cheney. I think his performance here is so dead on that he should receive some kind of nomination for his portrayal. But the real star of the movie is Omer played by Sam Golzari. He absolutely steals the movie from everyone else. He is the most likable and sweet character. At first you laugh at him but as the film goes on you begin to really love his character and feel for him.
Paul Weitz is the director, writer and producer of "American Dreamz." Weitz is one talented guy who takes so many actors and makes them into something great. "About a Boy," "In Good Company," and his short lived but brilliant television series "Cracking Up" all prove that he is a talented guy who can create original and clever work and "American Dreamz" is no different. But not only is he a great director but a great writer as well. His screenplay is great and mocks cultures with dead on examples, not to mention his non-typical Hollywood ending which I applaud him for leaving in. I read audience reactions from the test screenings about the ending were pretty negative but I am glad he kept it because I feel it's a great ending.
Bottom Line, "American Dreamz" is for audiences who can laugh at themselves and the culture they are apart of. This is a film that people will either love or hate and there will only be a few in between. It's not a movie for those who are easily offended or see the world as something that shouldn't be made fun of. It's a satire in its finest form. You have a terrific cast all of whom are solid at their roles, the script is brilliant and brave, and the directing is wonderful. This movie even makes you think when you laugh. You can't ask for a better comedy movie to come out of Hollywood, this is the finest satire to be released from a major studio in years. If you have a decent sense of humor and can laugh at yourself every once in a while, check out "American Dreamz" because it really is a dream with a Z.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "American Dreamz" is a 9/10. It's the best satire to come out of Hollywood in years. |
| Date: 2008-03-19 16:18:11 |
User: |
In American Dreamz, writer and director Paul Weitz unabashedly skewers Bush, Cheney, politics, American Idol, and the public that watches American Idol all in the same breath. That's quite a bit of satire to cram into a one hour and forty-seven minute movie, but cram Weitz does and for the most part he succeeds quite well.
In the world of American Dreamz President Staton (Dennis Quaid) has just been re-elected in a hard fought campaign. Left to his own devices Staton is non functional. It is his Chief of Staff (Willem Dafoe) who controls his every movement right down to telling Staton what to say through a hidden receiver place in his ear canal. One morning President Staton decides to take it easy and do something he has never done before which is to read a newspaper. "We do have one of those around, don't we," he asks his assistance. "I'm sure we do, but if we don't we can get you one," the assistant replies.
After having read his first newspaper Staton becomes addicted and begins reading anything and everything as if he were a tweener discovering his first Harry Potter story.
Then there is Simon Cowell clone Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant) who produces, hosts, and judges contestants on his version of American Idol called American Dreamz. He's shallow, manipulative, and thinks way too highly of himself. All would be right with the world except that he finds having to do actually do the show somewhat of an annoying minor detail.
Each season becomes more of a challenge to find the right contestants to drive his ratings higher because being number one in all demographics just isn't enough for Tweed. To do this he has to choose the right contestants that Americans can identify with, and their singing prowess has little to do with whom he chooses.
There is Ohio karaoke queen, Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore) whose one big dream is not only to appear on Tweed's show but to win. After finding out that she has been selected Sally dumps her boyfriend who joins the Army and is sent to Iraq two weeks after a two week cram course at basic training. Of course he promptly gets shot and returns home as a wounded vet just in time for Sally to reunite with him because it will make a better back story.
Then there's terrorist Omer Obeidi (Sam Golzari). His main thrill in life is listening to American show tunes on old records left to him by his mother who was killed by an American bomb. He promptly flops at terrorist training and is sent to the United States to live with relatives until he is needed. It is there that he is accidentally discovered performing a musical number and given the chance to appear on Dreamz.
When President Staton decides to appear at the finals of American Dreamz as a judge after being in hiding for several weeks, Omer is recruited to blow Staton and himself up with a bomb.
Grant is great as Tweed. In fact, one almost wishes he hosted the real show. His criticisms of the contestants are biting as he sits in judgment in a chair from the audience as if he is a god telling America who gets to enter the pearly gates and who gets a quick drop down the chute to hell. (Tweed: It's up to you America, only you have the awesome power to lift someone up into the heavens and create a new star.)
Grant plays Tweed as if he would be the kind of self-centered ego maniac you would hate living next to you, but in the confines of the TV screen he somehow manages to be admirable, pleasant, and charming. You can't help but like him.
Mandy Moore has played the bad girl before in a wonderful film called Saved! Sally's a bad girl here also but of a different type. She wants to win at all costs but is just as cold and passionless about it as Tweed about how that goal is achieved. In fact Tweed and Kendoo are mirror images of each other, and Moore does a good job here of reflecting Tweed's image so that we can readily see the similarities.
The real surprise here is Golzari as Omer the Terrorist who thinks he should be a terrorist to avenge his mother's death but knows he isn't quite cut out for the job. He just isn't ready to meet Allah especially when the guy that gives him the mission tells him he'll meet him in the afterlife also…..in a number of years that is.
Weitz leaves no stone unturned in his skewering of our infatuation with pop culture and celebrity icons, so much so that we will vote for the manufactured image of our president rather than be bothered with the annoying details of how he might actually run the country. In the wrong hands all of this could have been too heavy handed and dreary, but Weitz keeps things light enough so that we can laugh at ourselves while still giving us some things to think about.
There are a lot of laughs and memorable moments in American Dreamz and you'll be thoroughly entertained, as long as you have no problem laughing at not only the situation of the world around you but by laughing at yourself also.
There are those who will undoubtedly be offended, especially if they are still the adoring fans of certain shows and politicians in the real world and can differentiate the difference between reality and entertainment. I certainly can tell the difference and I had a heckuva good time. And when I have a good time I have no choice but to give American Dreamz my grade and I have decided that American Dreamz is a saucy little minx that deserves a B+. |
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