Common Sense Note
Parents should know the film pokes fun at President Bush, American Idol as well as Western fears of terrorism (the would-be presidential assassins here are "Arabic" and comic). The film makes the TV show and the presidential administration look equally dishonest. A character cheats on her fiancé. Characters make fun of "white trash." Terrorists carry and fire guns, and plan a suicide bombing; one terrorist says he enjoys torturing people; another character blows himself up to protest his girlfriend's betrayal (you don't see explosion or deaths). In Iraq, a character is barely shot (grazed) and sent home on his first day. Characters drink beer and wine, and the First Lady takes pills for depression.
Families can discuss the function of satire. How can making fun of something provide critique or even suggest ways to change? How do this movie's particular parodies touch on broader themes, such as corruption, commercialism, cynicism? Does it matter that American Idol might be fixed, if it is designed to be entertainment?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
AMERICAN DREAMZ is a broad satire, taking aim at a couple of national icons -- President Bush and American Idol -- in order to make obvious points: game shows are rigged, the President is clueless, and the most powerful man in the U.S. is Simon Cowell.
Two intersecting plots bring these satirical objects onto a collision course. Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore) is an aspiring singer who decides to break up with her pleasant but moronic boyfriend William Williams (Chris Klein) in order to pursue her career. When he insists that she makes him feel like being a better person, she sets him straight: "I'm not a better person; I'm me." And with that, she's on to her next step, a spot on American Dreamz, a contest show hosted by snooty Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant), who likes his paycheck and the chance to bed contestants, but otherwise appears to despise everything about his job.
At the same time, President Staton (Dennis Quaid) has something of a breakdown, feeling overwhelmed following his reelection. As Staton recovers, Chief of Staff Sutter (Willem Dafoe, playing in between Karl Rove and Dick Cheney) decides that the most effective way to get him back in the public eye looking healthy and strong is to have him appear as a guest judge on American Dreamz.
The announcement of this event inspires a group of terrorists to plan a suicide bombing against the President, on the show -- a spectacular intersection of TV, violence, and political statement, all for an incredibly wide audience. Their sleeper cell agent is Omer (Sam Golzari), recently discovered in terrorist training camp dancing to "One" from A Chorus Line. At that point he was packed off to the U.S. to live with relatives in Beverly Hills, including his American Dreamz-aspiring, completely charismatic cousin, Iqbal (Tony Yalda, who essentially steals every scene he's in). When the cell learns the President will be appearing as a guest judge on the show, they wire Omer with an explosive, to send him on a suicide mission. Omer is reluctant and ultimately denies the wishes of his cohorts.
When Iqbal's own efforts to get on the show fail, he agrees to coach Omer (during one choreography session, he sighs at Omer's nervousness: "It's just a bass track rehearsal. You move like a reanimated corpse in a zombie movie"). Omer generates remarkable sympathy and fandom on the show (inspiring "Omermania"), as the movie offers uninteresting jokes about contestants (essentially, providing imitations of previous contestants, from Fantasia to Kelly to Clay, whose appearances make you re-realize the originals are already self-parodies).
Eventually all the plot lines come together on the television set. These include William, who has gone off to fight in Iraq to prove himself worthy of Sally, only to have his arm grazed by a bullet on his first day. Sent home, he proposes to Sally. In order to enhance her competitive standing, she agrees. "Do you think it's bad of me to accept a proposal from a man I don't love to manipulate voters?" she asks Martin, who opines, "Bad is such a nebulous word."
Indeed. While the movie presumes its easy targets are "bad," its parodies aren't very clever either. And so the entire exercise seems more redundant than inspired.
Families who like this movie will also like Saved!, a spoof of Catholic high schools with Mandy Moore, and the romantic comedy About a Boy, starring Hugh Grant and directed by Weitz.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentCouples kiss (Sally and William, and then, Sally and Martin -- they go on to have sex in her dressing room, offscreen, though witnessed by William); Omer is called "Omersexual" some song lyrics refer to sexual activity (including "Superfreak" and a made-up song, "Let's get raunchy tonight"); Iqbar is stereotypically gay. |
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ViolenceTerrorists appear in a training video (learning to shoot); a terrorist breaks someone's arm; terrorists plan a suicide bombing; a U.S. soldier in Iraq is shot in the arm and sent home with his arm in a sling; an explosion ends the film, but you don't see it or any bodily effects, only learn that characters have been killed. |
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LanguagePushing it for a PG-13: 3 f-words, plus a couple of s-words, "hell," "bitch," "ass," "damn," slang for sex. |
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Social BehaviorU.S. president appears to be dumb, depressed, and easily manipulated; cynical producers and bored host of TV show regularly rig the game. |
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CommercialismAmerican Idol is an obvious reference throughout; Osmonds record; Coal Miner's Daughter movie poster; Ferrari; Kangol; Pepsi. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoUnlit cigar; beer and wine-drinking (some as background, in a bar); references to the First Lady's "happy pills," which she has her husband take as well (presumably, a mood-elevating prescription). |
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