American Dreamz

There is nothing like a good satire to hold our culture up to the unblinking eye of the movie camera. When there is something intrinsically awry with our society satire can poke fun of it; initially making us laugh but then leaving us with something perhaps more or a more serious nature to ponder. A friend of mine who is very politically well informed recently told me about a poll he read. It stated that people that watch the satirical news show, The Daily Show, are better informed about world events than those who restrict their viewing to the major 24 hour news stations. This is the power of the satire. Today it seems that more people know the contestants in the numerous reality shows than the members of the Supreme Court. Participants in these shows are better known and more popular than any governmental leader. The latest film by Paul Weitz, ‘American Dreamz’ takes a look at this dubious trend in the true tradition of satire.

As the film opens Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant) is planning for the next season of his widely popular television reality show, American Dreamz. In order to make sure that the next season will be picked up and retain its ratings Tweed knows that the season finale must pull in more viewers than ever. The onus is particularly heavy on Tweed since he wears tow hats for the show. The first is as the acerbic, very British judge of the contest, the second as the executive producer. The final show of the season will have contestants sure to win the ever present ratings war. There is Sholem Glickstein (Adam Busch), a Jewish rapper, Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore), the pretty mid-western blonde and Sam Goldzari (Omer Obeidi) who is there as a really bad novelty act. While all of this is going on President Stanton (Dennis Quaid) has just won his re-election. It occurs to him that he has not read a newspaper in many years so he orders his staff to locate a copy of the New York Times. Now the President shown here is not particularly the sharpest knife in the draw. Almost everything he thinks, says or does is orchestrated by his Chief of Staff (Willem Dafoe), a man with a crooked, almosted forced little smile that will certainly remind you of a very highly placed real life politician. President Stanton becomes obsessed with reading, discovering that there is so much that he is not aware of. For example in his typical malapropism manner he muses that he never realized there where three kinds of ‘Iraqistans’. The President pulls himself out of the public eye for weeks spending his time in his pajamas reading everything he can. He also loves the television series American Dreamz and that sets up the remainder of the film. When the President finally decides to go back to the public he takes to wearing an earpiece so that his Chief of Staff can dictate word for word his every comment. The First Lady (Marcia Gay Harden) is extremely concerned over how the public now sees her husband as a recluse. She tries her best to consul him but the hold the Chief of Staff has is very strong. In order to break this new public image the Chief of Staff books the President as a guest judge on the final season episode of American Dreamz.

As if the President is a strange enough character the contestants represent a truly odd collection. In the small town of Padookie, Ohio, Sally has always dreamed of becoming a pop princess singer. She loved karaoke night at the local haunts and is sure she could be the next to top the charts. Her mother, Martha (Jennifer Coolidge) decides to take control of her daughter’s career. Going far beyond the typical stage mother she has more plans for Sally than Eisenhower did before invading Normandy. Sally has just broken up with her boyfriend, William Williams (Chris Klein) who goes into the army. He gets wounded in Iraq and when he comes home Sally pretends to still love him. Her mother assures her that having a war hero boyfriend will play well with the contest judges and the public in general. While many in the mid-west may ask ‘what would Jesus do’ when faced with a difficult decision Martha and Sally are more inclined to ask what would Brittany do. Sam, as it turns out, has just returned to the States after being in a terrorist training camp. He goes to live with his older cousin, Iqbal Riza (Tony Yalda), an Arabic-American cross dresser who lives in an extremely flamboyant house. Originally it was Iqbal who was to appear on the show but the producers felt that Sam was so bad that he would add a little humor to the finale. Iqbal still wants to be in the limelight so he becomes his cousin’s manager. When it is announced that the President of the Untied States will be a guest judge Sam is ordered to build a bomb inside the studio and blow everyone up.

This film may only be a slight cut above some late night comedy shows in its comic side but as a satire it cuts to the bone. There is a little too much truth in the statement made to the President by his Chief of Staff that more American citizens voted on American Dreamz than voted in the last presidential election. Paul Weitz has honed his comedy abilities with such films as the original ‘American Pie’, ‘About a Boy’ and ‘In Good Company’. This film moves him from light comedy into a genre where he flourishes, satire. I constantly found myself laughing not because the jokes where so funny but because they where so true. This film demonstrates that the vast majority of the American public cares more about the appearance of a person than the substance. No one presented here is the same person behind the camera as they are when that little red light goes on and they are being watched on 92% of the population. The pacing is perfect. Weitz manages to fill out the various back stories seamlessly. He even managed to film the White House scenes in the incredibly realistic sets for the ‘West Wing’.

Dennis Quaid is incredible as the bumbling president. He comes off as a man who just happened to have the right connections to achieve the highest office in the land but really has no qualifications. I have been a fan of Willem Dafoe for many years. I have never seen him fail to bring his all with any role. Here has the Chief of Staff he nails the portrayal of a man who is happy to be the power behind the throne. Politicians are hindered by term limits but a man like this can remain in power behind the scenes for decades. I am very impressed with the film career of Mandy Moore. Instead of demanding a high profile role she has been taking smaller roles in a variety of films. She uses this to build on her natural talent instead of just wanting to be the star. Like her character in ‘Saved’ Ms Moore is able to cash in on her sweet girl next door image to play against type.

Universal Home Entertainment has a solid DVD release here. The technical specifications are impeccable. The anamorphic 1.85:1 video has a natural, well balanced color palette. The Dolby 5.1 audio is great providing but a natural ambience and nice channel separation. There is also a good selection of extras provided here. The audio commentary track featuring director Weitz and actor Obeidi was entertaining. They not only go into the technical decisions necessary for the film but also relate little tales of filming. In the featurette ‘Dance Dreamz’ choreographer Jennifer Lee goes into the dance numbers performed by the cast. ‘Center Stage’ features Mandy Moore in a behind the scenes tour of the American Dreamz set and production. Added to all of this are some deleted scenes. This is a fun film that the family can enjoy together. The younger set will get into the parody of American Idol while the adults will have a lot to think about with the current political situation.

Posted 10/19/06