Obvious Jokes Make American Dreamz Collapze

     If there was an Academy Award for Most Subtlety In A Motion Picture, American Dreamz would certainly be the film least likely to be nominated. The painfully obvious jokes eliminate any chance for genuine laughs in the movie, which is a satire of the American Idol worshiping society in which we live.

     More specifically, the flick targets the concept that more people vote for the next pop music sensation than the nation’s president. That said, the movie features characters that not only exhibit the behaviors of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, but resemble them as well.

     American Dreamz doesn’t exactly take any particular stand on political issues, either. Instead, it lampoons them from every angle. This is the ideal method but it only works if the audience isn’t hit over the head with the jokes. There should at least be a small handful of gags that go unnoticed until the second viewing. This is not the case, though, as every joke is handfed to us with a heavy hand.

     The flick features an ensemble cast of characters lead by Hugh Grant as Martin Tweed, a Simon Cowell type host of a television talent search competition aptly titled American Dreamz. The latest season of the program is beginning production and Tweed orders his staff to find more interesting contestants (or, less politically correct, “an Arab and a Jew”).

     Meanwhile, the president of the United States, played by Dennis Quaid, is struggling with his low approval rating (sound familiar?). The president is not the sharpest tool in the shed (how about that?) so he depends on his chief of staff, played by Willem Dafoe, to put words into his mouth. His chief of staff introduces the idea that the president appear as a guest judge on the finale of American Dreamz to help improve his approval ratings.

     When terrorists learn that the president of the United States is set to appear on the program, they recruit a contestant (the “Arab” that Tweed called for) to set off a bomb during the show’s finale. The contestant in question is Omer Obeidi, played by Sam Golzari. However, making it to the finale is a challenging assignment all itself… especially when another contestant, Sally Kendoo, played by Mandy Moore, is sleeping with Tweed.

     The only thing that American Dreamz is able to execute effectively is its parodying of American Idol. As a fan of the reality show that just wrapped up its fifth season (Soul Patrol!) with a vote total greater than that of the last presidential election, American Dreamz has made me look at American Idol in a whole new light. I have always been aware that the show was rather cheesy, but never have I understood how dependant it is on said cheese. The movie doesn’t discredit the series but it does perfect certain elements if it particularly well – enough to generate the only laughs in the flick.

     On the other hand, the political jabs fall flat. Unfortunately, they are so blatantly obvious that it is impossible to find anything special or funny about them. The same jokes can be seen every weekend on Saturday Night Live with a bit more thought injected into their conception.

     The cast, which also includes Jennifer Coolidge, Marcia Gay Harden, Chris Klein, Seth Meyers, John Cho and Judy Greer, is enough to keep the film constantly amusing but the writing fails so miserably that the comedy is simply not there. American Dreamz remains a sensible choice for American Idol fans, but everyone else – especially those seeking decent political farce – best look elsewhere.

     Airdo out!