American Dreamz (Stormy Pinkness)

Imagine, if you will, Hugh Grant playing a completely narcissistic celebrity who NEVER learns the error of his ways. Mandy Moore playing a character that you pretty much dislike almost from her introduction in the movie. Chris Klein playing a lovesick dope who cannot see things that are clearly in front of his face. If you can imagine this, you can pretty much imagine American Dreamz.
American Dreamz is a movie that is based on today’s society’s tendency to choose entertainment to escape life and the world instead of facing it. At first you are introduced to Martin Tweed (played by Hugh Grant). You then realize that he is the host of the show “American Dreamz.” Next you are introduced to Sally Kendoo, played by Mandy Moore. She is a lower-class singer who dreams of making it as a star and has the type of personality and heartlessness necessary to achieve that goal. Along with this you meet another contestant, Omer, who is a terrorist in training when he is sent away to America to prevent him from further embarrassing the terrorist camp. While in America, he is selected to appear on “American Dreamz” along with dozens of other American hopefuls, including a Jewish cantor who likes to rap.
The second story line of the movie involves President Staton (played by Dennis Quaid). We meet him on the morning after he has been re-elected as he is woken up by his Chief of Staff, played by Willem Dafoe. Staton’s Chief of Staff is eager to get the President going and started out strong on his second term. However, the President instead decides to stay in and read the newspaper. It soon becomes clear that this president is nothing more than a figurehead who knows nothing about what is going on in the world. Shocked by this realization, he is thrown into an obsession to find out what is going on. Due to his absence—caused by his obsessive reading of the newspaper—people start wondering about the President’s mental state. His Chief of Staff decides to put him on a “publicity blitz,” including being a celebrity judge on the TV show “American Dreamz.”
When I first heard about this movie I was thoroughly interested in seeing it. Finally, a movie was going to show what is wrong with America, that people are more interested in things that entertain them than the things that actually affect their lives. American Dreamz touched on this subject, but not in the way that I was hoping. It seemed to be flaking about the point it was making, and it seemed afraid to offend anyone. But why? Why not show people what they look like through a foreigner’s eyes? I went to this movie looking for a strong statement about today’s society. I did not think that this was too demanding a request. What I found was a movie that was so afraid of offending viewers—thereby cutting into its profits—that it said, “Here is the very toned-down version of the point of the movie. Now look at all these funny people!”
The movie was more entertaining than it was good. However, Hugh Grant plays Martin Tweed very well, although we all know that Hugh Grant can play a complete jerk. Mandy Moore also does well at playing Sally Kendoo, who thinks she is the best thing ever and doesn’t really realize that she is actually a horrible person. Sam Golzari does exceedingly well as Omer, who is the most loveable show-tune-singing terrorist I have ever seen. While I laughed many times throughout the movie, I wanted it to stand up for itself and say, “Screw it! This is our point! If you don’t like it then too bad.”
. The acting in American Dreamz was good and there were not any glaring mistakes that caught my eye. But since the movie did not want to offend anyone by saying what it really wanted to, I became very frustrated and disillusioned with it. I give it a 7 on a scale of -22 to 22. Why do people not say what they mean? I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but why does that always mean giving way to the majority opinion? If you want to make a point, don’t soften the blow just to save yourself. Say what you mean, and it will feel so much better!


~Stormy Pinkness