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Movies / On DVD / American Dreamz
American Dreamz

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American Dreamz (2006)

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Reviews Counted:8

Fresh:2

Rotten:6

Average Rating:4.3/10

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

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Reviews for American Dreamz

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1 - 9 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/27/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...Opting for a broad, light mood that’s at complete odds with the darker potential of its political premise.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Subtlety and sincerity go out the window in favour of crass stereotypes and easy jibes ...

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/06/06
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For all its misguided qualities, the movie is at least perfectly cast.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/06/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Paul Weitz's film is a seriously unfunny comedy about that intersection where politics meets entertainment.

comment Comment
04/20/06
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

American Dreamz, Paul Weitz's good-natured satire of pop, politics and our bloated sense of entitlement (arguably our biggest export) lampoons the great American disconnect from reality by locating the place where all these things intersect.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
04/20/06
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

American Dreamz looks like a sitcom, plays like a sitcom and is a sitcom -- and also the riskiest political satire since Wag the Dog.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/20/06
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A film with none of the heart that has characterized Weitz's best work and none of the freshness of his most successful.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
03/23/06
John DeFore
John DeFore
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Pic and its ambitions are undermined by insistent cartoonishness and comic ineptitude.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/22/06
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 9 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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