| What a strange
disappointment! I really loved the trailer. It was crisply
edited and had me in stitches. However, this is clearly a case
of "all the good bits are in the trailer!" Unfortunately,
"American Dreamz" only achieves the lowly goal of being sporadically
amusing. That is not good enough for a slapstick social satire.
I will admit that I had a grin slapped across my face for the bulk of
the film. I appreciated the targets of the film. The
American government, terrorists in training and the entire 'American
Idol' phenomenon all deserve to be mocked in abundance.
This film is funniest when it focuses on the absurd cultural
obsession with mediocrity surrounding the FOX TV show that wins the
ratings battle every week. Hugh Grant is clearly lampooning
Simon Cowell and many of those scenes are intelligently handled.
I also greatly appreciated the scenes with the fame-hungry singer
played by Mandy Moore. She probably has the five funniest
moments in the film.
However, the sub-plot featuring Omer, the terrorist in training who
is planning to blow up the president after making it to the grand
final of 'American Dreamz', falls absolutely flat. I also couldn't
muster too many grins for the scenes involving Dennis Quaid's George
Dubya Bush impressions. Neither he nor Willem Dafoe, clearly the
Dick Cheney character, are able to generate any laughs.
This entire film feels half-assed. It feels like they came up
with a concept that could have been funny and then hired a cheap
writer to put it all together. Most of this film feels like one
of those 'Saturday Night Live' skits that gets pity laughs.
Hugh Grant and Mandy Moore come out of the film relatively
unscathed. The rest of the cast won't be top of the list for
comedic work any time soon. And director, Paul Weitz, follows
three good efforts (American Pie, In Good Company, About a Boy) with a
dud... A satire without any daring. That is the greatest flaw a
satire can have... a lack of balls! |
