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American Dreamz (2006)
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Reviews Counted:152
Fresh:61
Rotten:91
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: This overly silly satire aims at too many targets with arrows too dull to make relevant social commentary.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for brief strong language and some sexual references
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:21-04-2006
Synopsis: Filmmaker Paul Weitz -- whose comic explorations have ventured into the synergistic halls of corporate culture (In Good Company), the perils of psychological isolationism (About a Boy) and the... Filmmaker Paul Weitz -- whose comic explorations have ventured into the synergistic halls of corporate culture (In Good Company), the perils of psychological isolationism (About a Boy) and the vicissitudes of losing one's virginity (American Pie)-- now delivers a comedy yanked from right-now popular culture...where the nation's shrinking attention span is more focused on "what's hot" than on hot-button headlines: American Dreamz. On the morning of his re-election, the President (Quaid) decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President's apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff (Dafoe) pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as a guest judge on the television ratings juggernaut (and the President's personal fave), the weekly talent show American Dreamz. America can't seem to get enough of American Dreamz, hosted by self-aggrandizing, self-loathing Martin Tweed (Grant), ever on the lookout for the next insta-celebrity. His latest crop of hopefuls includes Sally (Moore), a conniving steel magnolia with a devoted, dopey veteran boyfriend (Klein), and Omer, a recent Southern Californian immigrant (who just happens to be a bumbling, show tune singing, would-be terrorist awaiting activation). When both Sally and Omer make it to the final round of Dreamz--where the President will be judging along with Tweed--the stage is set for a show the nation will never forget. American Dreamz is written, produced and directed by Paul Weitz (writer/director of In Good Company, co-director/Academy Award®-nominated co-screenwriter of About A Boy and co-director of American Pie). Rodney Liber and Andrew Miano also produce; Chris Weitz and Kerry Kohansky serve as executive producers. --© Universal Pictures [More]
Starring: Mandy Moore, Hugh Grant, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Quaid
Starring: Mandy Moore, Hugh Grant, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Quaid, Chris Klein, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Coolidge, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Judy Greer, John Cho, Bernard White, Sam Golzari, Tony Yalda, Noureen DeWulf
Director: Paul Weitz
Director: Paul Weitz
Screenwriter: Paul Weitz
Producer: Rodney Liber, Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz
Composer: Stephen Trask
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for American Dreamz
...Opting for a broad, light mood that’s at complete odds with the darker potential of its political premise.
Subtlety and sincerity go out the window in favour of crass stereotypes and easy jibes ...
For all its misguided qualities, the movie is at least perfectly cast.
There's a brilliant movie here somewhere, but it's never quite brought out.
Enjoyable, sharply-observed satire with a great script and strong comic performances from the entire cast.
The pieces are all in place for a slashing Preston Sturges jamboree. All that's missing are balls
Writer/Director Paul Wietz ("In Good Company") tries his hand at creating a topical satire of our current American social-political crisis and comes up far short of capturing the brutal climate of a country running on the fumes of its dismembered civil ri
Did writer-director Paul Weitz think that U.S. audiences would be too dumb to appreciate actual satire?
A comedy that delivers in every way, "American Dreamz" easily gets my vote.
In a way, this film talks out of both sides of its mouth -- lampooning and loving its targets at the same time. But most viewers, I suspect, won't mind.
After a promising start, the film visibly deflates before your eyes, as joke after joke falls flat and Weitz himself seems to forget why he thought the premise was funny in the first place.
It has the good sense to hold up a mirror to ourselves, only instead of making us feel guilty and stupid, it makes us feel inclusive and in on the big joke.
There's the seed of a good satire in American Dreamz, but the film flops spectacularly due to a poorly written screenplay.
A satire that sets its sights too high and elicits only a few laughs here and there.
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