Best movie of this year hands down!

Admirable film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

American Dreamz (2006): Dir: Paul Weitz / Cast: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Seth Meyers, Chris Klein: Fantastic satire that takes crack shots at American Idol, the American President and terrorist. It is also Paul Weitz's best film in a career that has spawned such worthy comic gems as In Good Company and American Pie. It is addressing the success and sensation regarding reality shows and the bullshit concealed. Hugh Grant is perfectly cast as the arrogant Martin Tweed who hosts American Dreamz. His performance is a send off to Simon Cowell of American Idol fame. Dennis Quaid plays a recently re-elected American President ousted onto American Dreamz as a guest judge. His performance is an obvious jab at George W. Bush. Mandy Moore plays off the phoniness of divas as her contending on American Dreamz is manipulated with what isn't happening behind the camera within her relationships. This is perhaps Moore at her best as she succeeds to the delight of the media that craves and buys into it all. Seth Meyers plays Omar, another contender sent by terrorist but who sincerely wishes to compete. Chris Klein plays Moore's moron veteran boyfriend who proves to be several sandwiches short of a picnic. Provocative comedy about pop culture and the reality that the dreams presented are merely costume to the lasting misery of it all. Score: 10 / 10

Against good advice I decided to watch 'American Dreamz'. The fact that Dennis Quaid is playing president and that Hugh Grant is in it should have been reason enough to avoid this. But the reality show spoof concept and the supposed satire angle got me interested. Moreover I had read Ben Elton's 'Chart Throb' (that came out the same year) which also revolves around the behind the scenes of a song contest reality show and it's one of the funniest books I have ever read. So 'American Dreamz' couldn't be that bad now can it? In all fairness, with the exception of the terrorist angle, it is quite funny in the beginning. It could have been more amusing but nonetheless I laughed a little. Then somewhere before the second half it heads downhill not standing any chance for recovery. The movie felt very rushed. The whole terrorist angle felt out of place and clichéd. There's also a boring preachy 'patriotic' sequence. Mandy Moore is adequate. Willem Dafoe, Judy Greer, John Cho, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Marcia Gay Harden are first rate (but every one of them have tiny roles). Hugh Grant is irritating as usual. Dennis Quaid is passable. And, 'American Dreamz' is forgettable.

A messy satire that works because it's really pretty funny. These messy but ambitious films always interest me, and there is plenty of interesting commentary going on in American Dreamz. What other film combines the war on terror with an American Idol-style show? Alongside the usual look at the shallow entertainment industry American Dreamz has quite a few inspired and funny political statements that include Willem Dafoe as a Cheney-modeled Vice President controlling Dennis Quaid's alternate-universe-Bush, a Jew, Gentile and a Muslim competing on the show, and a season finale that walks a fine line between dark comedy and plain distastefulness. Hey, this film is messy, like I said, but I enjoyed it, mess included.Quaid is really funny here, his President feels like a good-natured poke towards Bush, making him out not so much a clueless tyrant, but someone kept in the dark and used a a puppet. Dafoe's VP is the puppeteer, and his performance is pretty inspired. He never goes for the frightening, deathly feel that an actual Dick Cheney impersonation would have produced, and the film is funnier for it. Hugh Grant does a fine Simon Cowell impersonation, but thank God the film doesn't rest on his shoulders because he seems to be off his comic timing lately. Also, it's nice to see Seth Meyers in the movies

I wavered for a long time trying to decide if I liked this movie or not. It's like a bad car wreck... no, worse... It's like when you find an eyeball in the toilet. It's absolutely nauseating, but at the same time you feel a morbid, scientific desire to poke at it."American Dreamz" is possibly the thickest satire I've seen since Catch-22, but with a heavy dose of "Kentucky Fried Movie" thrown in for silliness. However, this film suffers from one major problem. There is an unwritten rule in satire that you have to inject 1 normal character into the mix so that the audience can have some perspective and relief from the sarcasm. Ideally it's the protagonist to whom we relate (like level-headed Jerry Seinfeld in "Seinfeld" set against Kramer, George, Neuman and other neurotic oddballs, or like Brian in "The Life of Brian" or like Gene Wilder in "Blazing Saddles"). We didn't get that here. Each & every character is so thoroughly over-the-top irritating that you find yourself hoping they all get skinned alive and dumped in a lemon pepper marinade.Believe it or not, the most sympathetic character would be that of the President (Bush), whom this film skewers most brutally. In this film he is portrayed as a clueless bumpkin but with a human side. All the other characters in the movie are either 1st class douchebags or simpering sacks of goo. The satire itself is laid on so heavily and without respite that you find yourself slowly losing your attention span, if not your mind.There is a payoff, though. Be sure to stick around for the last 5 minutes, because that's where I believe this film really delivers. I laughed out loud, and at the same time I realized what a perfect ending it was. The whole film is like an infuriating, painful sneeze that builds up for 90 minutes and finally, whooooosh, it's out.Come to think of it, I'll probably be watching it again. I guess I'm a bit of a masochist at heart. There's no telling how you might react, but at least I hope I've given you an idea of what to expect.