American Dreamz

So, what can I say about American Dreamz? The film is a comedy/satire mocking the worlds of politics (mainly George W Bush) & Reality TV Talent Shows like American Idol and X-Factor. I booked this film on the premise of a strong cast and an OK trailer but you can't help but think this film could have been a hell of a lot better.

There is a lot of star power in this flick with Hugh Grant starring as Martin Tweed (a big screen version of Simon Cowell), Dennis Quaid as the US President, Mandy Moore as one of the contestants in the talent contest and Willem Dafoe as Quaid's chief of staff. The movie begins with Tweed ordering his production team to find him a suitable bunch of freaks for the latest series of the American Dreamz talent contest. The spotlight is put on two main contestants - Mandy Moore's character - a white trash girl who will stop at nothing to win the prize and an Asian contestant called Omar. Omar is a former trainee terrorist who is kicked out of his terror camp for being too soft, he then ends up on the show via case of mistaken identity. Meanwhile, Quaid's President is suffering a crisis, despite having just won a second term in the White House, he is undergoing a bout of personal depression and refuses to get out of bed and face the public. His Chief of Staff Dafoe is the man who has to pull him out of his comatose and repair his public image as the press begin to wonder what is happening.

All these worlds collide when the Chief of Staff decides the President should appear as a guest judge on American Dreamz to show he has the 'common touch'. This sets up a rather unlikely plot where Omar's terror cell order him to commit a suicide bombing live on TV with the President.

As you have probably established by reading the above, this film is somewhat ridiculous and it was always going to live or die by the humour factor. Unfortunately there are few belly laughs to be had and the films pedestrian start has something to do with this. Hugh Grant keeps up his end of the bargain providing most of the funnier scenes, but even he can't save this film. As much as I admire Dennis Quaid, I don't really think that comedy is his forte, the jokes, basically revolving around the President being thick, aren't clever enough to compensate for a fairly wooden performance. Moore does a good job as the white trash chick desperate to win but the characters full potential is never really exploited.

Overall a bit of a letdown and unfortunately I can't damage my credibility by recommending it.