satire in american dreamz


Judging from his unexpectedly flattering performance as a Dubya doppelgänger in American Dreamz, Dennis Quaid can expect a Christmas card from the White House this year, if not a Pepperidge Farm gift bag and possibly even his own affectionate nickname from the President. How 'Major Kong' flew back into the political lexicon, Tina Fey and Paul Rudd star in 'Admission', One month free trial to the Monitor Daily.

Strangelove." His counterpart is Dennis Quaid's President Staton, who has just won reelection. or call us at 1-617-450-2300. To win back the public, George W. Bush (or his alter ego, played by Dennis Quaid) is a guest judge on the finals of "American Idol" (or its stand-in, American Dreamz). Grade: D. • Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and sexual references. And the thinly disguised jabs at President Bush - Staton even apologizes for Iraq in front of the TV audience - are so inept that you might think Karl Rove had a hand in all this as a covert way of drumming up sympathy for our president. AMERICAN DREAMZ (Paul Weitz, 2006) An amateur singing competition is the biggest show on television, and the newly reelected President of the United States abstains from reading newspapers. Science Monitor has expired. It's too bad there aren't more nihilistic political comedies to help us all let off steam. Film critic of The Christian Science Monitor. "American Dreamz" has funny bits, parodies of "American Idol" singers and their cornball air-sculpting (although how can you top the original?). As with his last movie, In Good Company, Weitz seems stuck in a strange limbo between scathing satire and character-based comedy.

Hugh Grant's Simon Cowell figure delivers insults with aplomb. Genres: Satire, Comedy. Consider the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup," which was the first great Hollywood depiction of the absurdity of war: it was World War I as a deadly clown show. American Dreamz is not a smart satire, it's satire-lite. Starring: Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Hugh Grant. Not even close. Characters are developed with more layers than expected, like Hugh Grant's vaguely self-loathing judge/host/all-around smoothie, but not with enough depth that they transcend caricature altogether. Writer-director Paul Weitz even suggests that if he could only free himself from the meddling influence of sinister Iagos like Willem Dafoe (playing a thinly fictionalized version of Karl Rove), he'd be an even more engaged, compassionate leader. Although he's a dimwit, his eyes are opened by newspapers and magazines. Hugh Grant plays the appropriately named Martin Tweed, the unctuous British host of the "American Idol"-ish smash, "American Dreamz."
With the counterculture arrived a new kind of humor, dubbed "sick." Maybe Weitz can't see the real story here because he's too much a part of Hollywood. Quaid's President is a kindhearted though dim-witted man-child far more prone to humility, introspection, and anguished soul-searching than his real-life counterpart seems. "American Dreamz" is a bad-taste satire of politics, reality TV and Islamic terrorism that begs the question: how can satirists compete with what's happening in the real world? In many instances it is hard to realize that this movie was made by Hollywood studious since this film mocks just about everything about American culture. The original "Manchurian Candidate" is still among our most subversive satires: that a Joseph McCarthy-like Communist witch-hunter could be a Communist plant is ridiculous, but there's a kernel of truth. American Dreamz. Profanity: 3 strong instances, 29 milder. Weitz has a winning way with a one-liner, and he's recruited a stellar cast that gets the most out of his material. Weitz seems to want to deliver parody with a happy face, but his film's soft heart is incompatible with the deadpan sting of penetrating satire. If he had kept the film focused on Tweed and the president, he might have scored a few lampoonish moments.
Writer-director Paul Weitz ("American Pie," "About a Boy") is by no means without talent, but his reach far exceeds his grasp here.

The Arab stereotyping - including most flagrantly Omer's gay relative Iqbal (Tony Yalda), who aches to be on TV - is not pretty. For one thing, shows like "American Idol" already do a very good job of making fun of themselves. In jest, it pokes fun at George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Simon Cowell and his American Idol-phenomenon, and the American people in general. It's satire for the mainstream who want to be entertained. You can renew your subscription or McCarthy was destroying the freedom he claimed to defend. Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed. If you have questions about your account, please

Granted, I was entertained and I enjoyed a lot of the film. It's not satire. subscription yet. Watch CBS News anytime, anywhere with the our 24/7 digital news network. Even the "dark" final plot twist feels glib, little more than a dim echo of Taxi Driver's ironic coda. He has expanded his oeuvre with critically acclaimed turns as a cad in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), About a Boy (2002), Love Actually (2003), and American Dreamz (2006).

continue to use the site without a Rated the #789 best film of 2006. Sometimes I think we work at preserving our naiveté. Stream CBSN live or on demand for FREE on your TV, computer, tablet, or smartphone. It's possible to make a political black comedy that mixes blood with slapstick - both "Strangelove" and "The Manchurian Candidate" did it - but to pull it off you need a comic vision and not just a joke book. Copyright © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc.All rights reserved.

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