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American DreamzOne of the most unconvincing satires to come out of Hollywood in a long while, American Dreamz lines up the most obvious contemporary targets - the neo-con government, Al Qaeda, reality TV - in its sights and proceeds to blast itself in the foot. Neither vicious enough to inflict real pain, nor amiable enough to win over audiences, its scattershot approach is devoid of all but the most obvious platitudes and point scoring: not so much American Dreamz as American idle.
The convoluted storylines revolve around the titular hit TV show, ruled over by Grant's spiteful British presenter Martin Tweed (Simon Cowell minus the high-waisted trousers). In a bid to get more "freaks" on the air, he rigs things so that the season's final contestants are all-American sweetheart Sally Kendoo (Moore) and Omer (Golzari), a show tune-loving Iraqi, recently arrived in America. Unbeknownst to his host family or the show's producers, Omer has flunked out of an Afghan terrorist training camp. But when he becomes an unexpected success on 'American Dreamz', and his handlers learn that recently re-elected US President Staton (Quaid) will be a guest on the show, they co-opt him into an explosive plan.
After a couple of relatively sophisticated, character-driven comedies About A Boy and In Good Company, writer-director Chris Weitz returns to the broader strokes of his first hit American Pie - only without the laughs. One might argue that a contrived phenomenon like 'American Idol' is almost beyond parody anyway; but it certainly requires far more precision, daring and pacing to satirise it than Weitz and Co come up with.
Roping in Quaid's clueless President (one of the few good exchanges has him shocked to learn there are "three kinds of Iraqistanis") who is entirely dependent on Willem Dafoe's Cheney-esque scheming Vice-President, feels like an entirely different and equally toothless send-up; immigrant Omer's terrorist back story another; and Sally's dopey Army veteran boyfriend William (Klein) yet another. If it's an attempt to create a modern patchwork look at America today, it's as phony and contrived as the reality TV it seeks to patronize.
It's also entirely unlikable - in stark contrast to even American Pie - with every character, bar Omer, entirely selfish or stupid. The portrait of an upwardly mobile Arab-American family is insultingly shallow. Grant's Tweed is also poorly developed - for a jaded screw-up, his actions in the frenetic finale make no sense. Even the song parodies of the bland AOR ballads or insipid pop that 'American Idol' trades in, lack any smart melodies or lyrics to hook you in.
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