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Movies / On DVD / American Dreamz
American Dreamz

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American Dreamz (2006)

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Reviews Counted:152

Fresh:61

Rotten:91

Average Rating:5.2/10

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 AwardŽ-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

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Release:

Oct 17, 2006

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Reviews for American Dreamz

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21 - 40 (sorted by date)
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Cleverly written and performed, it's entertaining but uneven.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/06/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Subtlety and sincerity go out the window in favour of crass stereotypes and easy jibes ...

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/06/06
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC

For all its misguided qualities, the movie is at least perfectly cast.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/06/06
Empire Magazine

There's a brilliant movie here somewhere, but it's never quite brought out.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
05/06/06
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

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.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
05/05/06
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Paul Weitz's American Dreamz assembles a sumptuous buffet for the viewer, but since Weitz isn't hungry, he just stares at the spread, dumbly refusing to eat when really he should gorge.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
05/05/06
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

No legitimate characters or performances here, just impersonations of the easy target clods that grace the stage of 'American Idol' and White House press conferences.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
05/04/06
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

It figures... that Universal Pictures would see fit to inject multiple jabs at the world of television while unable to re-examine its own hubris.

Full Review Source: Cinemalogue.com | comment Comment
05/03/06
Rubin Safaya
Rubin Safaya
Cinemalogue.com

A sociopolitical satire with a lot of bark, but not enough bite.

Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | comment Comment
05/01/06
Mark Sells
Mark Sells
Oregon Herald

A supporting cast—including Marcia Gay Harden, and Jennifer Coolidge—are tragically underused and what little material they're given has been dumbed-down.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
05/01/06
Allison Williams
Allison Williams
Premiere Magazine

Somewhat silly and more than somewhat tasteless, "American Dreamz" isn't as smart as it thinkw it is.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
05/01/06
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

An American nightmare.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
04/30/06
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Writer/director Chris Weitz almost makes a good movie about how the public's 21st century media influence means everybody believes they're entitled to die famous, but he steps short of getting anywhere.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
04/27/06
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

[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.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
04/27/06
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Weitz's rousing satire is no dream: It's the mad, mad real world of America in the year 2006.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
04/27/06
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

Great satires draw blood. American Dreamz barely nicks the surface.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
04/27/06
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

Pokes fun at a program that doesn't take itself seriously, cutting down easy targets like an eighth-grade bully picking fights with first graders.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
04/27/06
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

As are most satires, this is silly and humorous with good performances. I squirmed quite a bit during the first hour, but Grant's performance is probably worth the price of admission.

Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment Comment
04/26/06
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com

This is a heady mix, but it sounds funnier than it plays, because it needed a Billy Wilder level of cynicism, and Weitz doesn't have anything like that.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
04/26/06
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

This isn't a black comedy -- it's more like a whiter shade of pale.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
04/26/06
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
 
 
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