Film: American Dreamz
Tagline
You have been Omerized!
Plot
'Imagine a country where the President never reads the newspaper, where the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons, and more people vote for a pop idol than their next President (IMDB.com).' This is the premise of the satirical movie called American Dream. Sally Kendoo is a small town girl with dreams of being a huge pop star. The way to do this is by being picked by the hit television show called American Dreamz, which is hosted by the good-looking jerk named Martin Tweed. In order to liven up the show and receive even higher show ratings, Martin picks her to be a contestant. Sally isn’t just a pretty face. She’s ready to do anything it takes to win over the crowd. Even use her ex boyfriend, Iraq war veteran William Williams, to gain sympathy.
To add even more flavor to the show, Martin demands they find an Arab to compete. By accident, they choose Omer Obeidi. He’s recently flown in from a terrorist camp to visit his family, only to be dragged into an assassination attempt on the depressed president. Where does the president fit in? He’s a guest judge on the show of course! What better way to attract the attention of America than by having him appear on a show that more Americans vote on rather than vote for a president!
Acting
To be honest, Hugh Grant needs to choose a new role to play. He seems to round up the part of a handsome, wealthy, man who just happens to be a jerk in some way or other quite a few times. Though he did in fact do a fairly good job of it once again. Mandy Moore’s acting always varies. In this movie she played Sally Kendoo and played the part well. If we were meant to dislike her character for being manipulative a typical pop star wannabe, then it worked. The most amusing character had to be Omer Obeidi who was played by Sam Golzari. His character had a love for performing, even if he wasn’t very good. He definitely would have had my vote if this were for real. Willem Dafoe surprisingly was in this movie. He played the Vice President Cheney look-alike Chief of Staff, who was determined to get the President, played by Dennis Quaid, out of bed and into the media. Chris Klein played William Williams, the pathetically in love ex boyfriend of Sally Kendoo. I thought he could have done better. His acting made his character seem a bit too pathetic in my opinion.
In the end, the movie was in between liking and disliking. It gave me a few chuckles now and then. It was obvious the movie was a satire to present day USA but it could have done a better job. The all star cast makes it sound better than it really is.
Verdict: If you want to have a few chuckles, then watch this movie. But go rent it at your local rental store if you can. Or grab your neighbor’s copy. Or just wait for it to come on television.