In "American Dreamz," director Paul Weitz takes aim and satirizes many targets of the world we know. The main targets are the show "American Idol" and the George W. Bush Presidency. In the world of this movie, President Joe Staton (played by Dennis Quaid, channeling President Bush) is a simple-minded man manipulated by his Chief of Staff (Willem Dafoe, resembling Vice President Dick Cheney). For publicity, he agrees to be a guest judge on talent search reality show "American Dreamz." The host of this show is acid-tongued Martin Tweed (the Simon Cowell of this story, played by Hugh Grant). And the contestants include all-American girl Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore) and novelty act Omer (Sam Golzari). In reality, Omer is an incompetent Arab terrorist who'd rather sing show tunes. But he has a mission to blow up President Staton. And Sally has her own agenda: beneath her sweet image, she is catty and calculating. This movie looks at reality TV with a keen eye. Of course, it exposes reality TV as not being 100% real. "American Dreamz" will serve up satire with music and laughs.
Review of American Dreamz
