American Dreamz
by Derek Neff

      American Dreamz promisingly melds two widely-known tidbits from recent American culture: 1) more people voted for the latest "American Idol" contestant than voted in the last presidential election, and 2) our current president once bragged to a reporter that he "rarely" reads the newspapers but instead relies on his advisors for most of his information.

      The president here is played by Dennis Quaid, who bears an unmistakable resemblance to you-know-who. (Purely coincidentally, I'm sure.) Quaid plays President Staten as a somewhat lovable nincompoop who falls into a malaise when he finally decides to pick up a newspaper one morning and read all about the world over which he holds so much influence. Health care, genocide, war –  who wouldn't get depressed? His Chief of Staff (played by Willem Dafoe, who looks a little like our current VP, again purely unintentionally, I'm sure) is something of a Svengali type who tells the Prez where to go, what to think and what to say. In response to falling poll ratings, the Chief of Staff decides to book the Prez as a guest judge on "American Dreamz," a TV reality show where singers of varying skills and talent compete to win fame and fortune while trying to avoid the scathing insults of the show's producer and host, Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant).

      Complicating the plot is Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore), a promising young singer who might just take the top prize, and Omer Obeidi (Sam Golzari), a bright-eyed Iraqi immigrant/sleeper cell terrorist who also finds himself a top contestant. When it's announced that the president is going to be on the show, Omer's operatives come up with a plan to assassinate the president on live TV. (This, however, doesn't stop one of the starry-eyed terrorists from asking Omer what Martin Tweed is like in real life.)

      To its credit, the movie sails along quite smoothly and, despite its multi-character storyline, never gets too bogged down in details. It's an engaging enough bit of entertainment, and it's even undeniably funny at times, but the movie is far too toothless and unfocused to succeed as satire. Team America crossed the line more times than one could count, and was all the better for that, while "Saturday Night Live" on even its worst night is more daringly incisive than American Dreamz. Director Paul Weitz (who also made the surprisingly milquetoast-y American Pie movies) seems to like his characters too much to be willing to see them bruised up. He's simply not cut out for satire, I guess; few are.

Copyright 2006 Ad Media Inc.