A moderately engaging satire, some of it amusing and some of it strained, but in considerable measure it reflects a strange circumstance in all our lives.
American Dreamz (2006)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:15
Rotten:19
Average Rating:5.6/10
Consensus: This overly silly satire aims at too many targets with arrows too dull to make relevant social commentary.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for brief strong language and some sexual references
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Apr 21, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $7,156,725
Synopsis: Filmmaker Paul Weitz -- whose comic explorations have ventured into the synergistic halls of corporate culture (In Good Company), the perils of psychological isolationism (About a Boy) and the... Filmmaker Paul Weitz -- whose comic explorations have ventured into the synergistic halls of corporate culture (In Good Company), the perils of psychological isolationism (About a Boy) and the vicissitudes of losing one's virginity (American Pie)-- now delivers a comedy yanked from right-now popular culture...where the nation's shrinking attention span is more focused on "what's hot" than on hot-button headlines: American Dreamz. On the morning of his re-election, the President (Quaid) decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President's apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff (Dafoe) pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as a guest judge on the television ratings juggernaut (and the President's personal fave), the weekly talent show American Dreamz. America can't seem to get enough of American Dreamz, hosted by self-aggrandizing, self-loathing Martin Tweed (Grant), ever on the lookout for the next insta-celebrity. His latest crop of hopefuls includes Sally (Moore), a conniving steel magnolia with a devoted, dopey veteran boyfriend (Klein), and Omer, a recent Southern Californian immigrant (who just happens to be a bumbling, show tune singing, would-be terrorist awaiting activation). When both Sally and Omer make it to the final round of Dreamz--where the President will be judging along with Tweed--the stage is set for a show the nation will never forget. American Dreamz is written, produced and directed by Paul Weitz (writer/director of In Good Company, co-director/Academy Award®-nominated co-screenwriter of About A Boy and co-director of American Pie). Rodney Liber and Andrew Miano also produce; Chris Weitz and Kerry Kohansky serve as executive producers. --© Universal Pictures [More]
Starring: Mandy Moore, Hugh Grant, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Quaid
Starring: Mandy Moore, Hugh Grant, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Quaid, Chris Klein, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Coolidge, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Judy Greer, John Cho, Bernard White, Sam Golzari, Tony Yalda, Noureen DeWulf
Director: Paul Weitz
Director: Paul Weitz
Screenwriter: Paul Weitz
Producer: Rodney Liber, Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz
Composer: Stephen Trask
Studio: Universal Pictures
Get This Movie
Reviews for American Dreamz
[A] satirically unbalanced in its attempted fusion of such varied targets as George Bush, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Muslim suicide bombers, and the hosts and contestants on American Idol.
[Paul] Weitz co-directed the wonderful About a Boy in 2002, but in Dreamz -- a tediously facile satire -- his comic instincts fail him.
Like a commander-in-chief who's too good-naturedly dumb to be dangerous, the writer-director is ultimately too forgiving to do much bruising. (Or maybe too calculating, which kind of blurs into the same thing.)
American Dreamz is the rare case of a movie that gets better as it goes along.
It's a disappointing effort from witty writer-director Paul Weitz (American Pie, In Good Company). He tries to weave a subversive tapestry a la Nashville but only tells a story full of holes.
A cartoonish, unfocused and mostly unfunny satire that doesn't come within a hundred miles of hitting its two main targets.
The devilishness of satire is in the details, and [Paul] Weitz's script just isn't as funny or as consistently sharp as it should be.
In American Dreamz, the people are stereotypes, and the context is fake: It's broad, it's thin, it's a big easy target. And ultimately, its dreamz are hollow.
A random episode of American Idol offers more comedy and drama, not to mention more disturbing insights into contemporary popular culture, than American Dreamz.
American Dreamz is an often uproarious, always ambitious gutting of modern America that cuts painfully close to the truth from beginning to almost-end.
American Dreamz is as forgettable and lacking in insight as the great majority of dreams that trespass on our subconscious.
American Dreamz pulls off that rare feat of shooting at dozens of big targets, and hitting so many of them that we want to stand up and cheer because someone even tried.
As satire, American Dreamz is heavy-handed. As comedy, American Dreamz is hilarious.
American Dreamz is a political satire that's eerily emblematic of the moment we're living in: smart, spring-loaded with pop culture references, and far too good-natured to do any lasting damage.
The jokes in American Dreamz whiz by with speed and grace, and Weitz maintains control of the material every minute.
American Dreamz lampoons the public's appetite for mindless entertainment and easy distraction from serious concerns.
Paul Weitz's film is a seriously unfunny comedy about that intersection where politics meets entertainment.
The movie is a spirited exercise in caricature rather than a cohesive comedy. Everybody's playing somebody real, but the movie never approaches reality.
Latest News for American Dreamz
April 19, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: "Vacancy" Hopes for Full Occupancy
Another week, another horror film. That's the mantra in Hollywood at the moment. Among the four new films going into wide release this weekend are Sony's terror tale... More...
February 01, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Because" Is Less Than So-So; "Messengers" Not Screened -- Guess The Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got mother/daughter conflict ("Because I Said So," starring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore) and dark proceedings on a North Dakota... More...
April 20, 2006:
Critical Consensus: A Weak "Sentinel," So-So "Dreamz" Are Made Of This, "Silent Hill" Not Screened
This week at the movies we've got a Secret Service agent on a mission ("The Sentinel"), an "American Idol"- skewering political satire ("American... More...
April 17, 2006:
"Scary" Weekend for Spoof Competitors
WeinsteinCo's Scary Movie 4 made a huge pile of cash over the holiday weekend, demolishing Panic Room's $30 million Easter haul from a few years back. The silly sequel scared up... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- American Dreamz at Rotten Tomatoes
- American Dreamz at IGN
- American Dreamz at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



