When you walk into a movie with the long tagline: "Imagine a country where the president never reads the newspaper, where the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons and where more people vote for a pop idol than their next president," what would you expect? A satire on "American Idol" and the presidency perhaps? The marketing for the new movie "American Dreamz" is more than a little misleading.
Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant) plays the dual role of host and judge to the top-rated "American Dreamz" singing competition. The show is running into its next season and now comes the search for the contestants. Tweed doesn't want just anyone; he wants to gather so-called "freaks" to compete.
Enter Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore), a girl willing to do anything to become a star. Her agent, Chet Krogl (Seth Meyers), says she needs something to make the public want to vote for her. Out of necessity, Kendoo takes back her ex-boyfriend, William Williams (Chris Klein), because of his decorated Iraq war veteran status.
There's the reluctant Omer (Sam Golzari), an Iraqi citizen staying with his rich relatives. He's found by accident and only because Tweed wanted an Arab participant. Omer has another agenda though -- he's been sent to America as part of a terrorist plot. "American Dreamz" happens to be the easiest way to pull off something wild.
President Joseph Stanton (Dennis Quaid) has just entered his second term, but he's causing publicity problems by refusing to get out of his pajamas. He's not going out in them, he's becoming a recluse, reading newspaper after newspaper because his briefings (which involve wonderful superhero analogies like North Korea as Magneto from "X-Men") aren't cutting it. His vice president, Sutter (Willem Dafoe), decides the best way to get past this crisis is by sticking an ear-piece in the president's ear and feeding him what needs to be said.
To show the public that he truly hasn't gone crazy, the president will appear as a guest judge on the finale of "American Dreamz," the perfect place for terrorists to launch an attack.
Through the trailers for the film, director and writer Paul Weitz makes this seem like the happy-go-lucky movies he's known for ("American Pie," "About a Boy" and "In Good Company"). But "American Dreamz" turns out to be more of a governmental satire than one on society's obsession with "American Idol."
Weitz seems to mirror the current American government with his own Bush and Cheney pair in Stanton and Sutter. Marcia Gay Harden as First Lady Stanton looks almost exactly like Laura Bush.
There are plenty of noteworthy performances, but the material just doesn't stand up. Tony Yalda, who plays Omer's over-the-top cousin Iqbal, is hilarious. If he were on "American Idol," he'd definitely be one of those memorable "World's Worst Singer"-type performances.
Moore as the semi-evil Sally is a step away from her vanilla roles in "A Walk to Remember" and "Chasing Liberty." And listening to her sing about "American dreamz with a Z" is nothing short of funny.
Although a bit funny, Weitz treads into shaky territory with his terrorist plot line, especially since the audience won't be expecting it. Some may even find it offensive.
But what's even more worrisome is the movie's pacing. "American Dreamz" is slow enough to send its viewers into dreamland.
A night with an episode of "American Idol" could be more rewarding than seeing "American Dreamz." The satire's high expectations weren't met.
Originally from Des Plaines, Ill., Heather moved to Milwaukee to earn a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University. With a tongue-twisting last name like Leszczewicz, it's best to go into a career where people don't need to say your name often.
However, she's still sticking to some of her Illinoisan ways (she won't reform when it comes to things like pop, water fountain or ATM), though she's grown to enjoy her time in the Brew City.
Although her journalism career is still budding, Heather has had the chance for some once-in-a-lifetime interviews with celebrities like actor Vince Vaughn and actress Charlize Theron, director Cameron Crowe and singers Ben Kweller and Isaac Hanson of '90s brother boy band Hanson.
Heather's a self-proclaimed workaholic but loves her entertainment. She's a real television and movie fanatic, book nerd, music junkie, coffee addict and pop culture aficionado.
