Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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

This is a hilarious, if not perfect, satire. Mainly making fun of everything related to American pop culture, this also dedicates effort to parodying the administration of the time(and not doing anything to make it less obvious that that's what it's about)... and as something nice and different, it's about their personalities, not their politics. The humor is excellent, with a lot of dark comedy and absurdity, as well as cleverness. There is a lot of bravery in how far it goes to mock certain things, and I found the vast majority of it hysterical. With that said, some jokes and gags try too hard and fall flat. And I won't be an ass and claim that "everyone who doesn't like this doesn't get it". Weitz also directed American Pie and Down to Earth, and like in the first-mentioned, this juggles several plot-lines well. The characters are mostly credible, if not all the events are. It should perhaps be mentioned that you are, in fact, not supposed to sympathize with everyone in this, and it also is worth noting that there *are* a couple of likable ones, that you can relate to. The performances are a tad mixed, but they tend to be good. Klein is great, as is Grant. Greer isn't given enough to do, in my opinion. And yes, Moore is pretty annoying. She's not an actress, or wasn't at this point. The singing in this is enjoyable. There is occasional sexuality(and a little eye-candy, for both genders), mainly hinted at, sometimes in dialog(no details), and brief strong language in this. I recommend this to anyone that can imagine being entertained by it. 7/10

At the time this movie was made, American Idol voters already rivaled political election voters. Director Paul Weitz, who gave us American Pie, throws everything in including the kitchen sink in this movie: an inept president facing a crisis of confidence (who mirrors one George W. Bush intentionally or not), a Broadway music-loving terrorist trainee, and intellectually vapid young Americans doing what they do best: kissing themselves in front of mirrors, running to the mall, and self-indulging. There are some bright moments to be sure in this satire vs. farce, but several scenes are often uncomfortably close to reality, as in the self-absorbed bratty Mandy Moore character who resembled some of the female students I taught over the years. Hugh Grant is much better than usual as a Simon Cowell type host of an American Idol type show, revealing just how laughably phony that type of show really is. Willem Dafoe is funny as a Dick Cheney look-a-like, but Dennis Quaid is wasted as the befuddled president. The terrorist sub-plot doesn't really work that well either, but Chris Klein is funny as an idiot boyfriend manipulated by Mandy Moore to further her "career". **1/2 of 4 stars.

Imagine a terrorist getting to the final round of an American Idol-type show so that he can bump off one of the judges - the President of the United States. Paul Weitz has a great and creative imagination to think up the plot of "American Dreamz," a 2006 comedy that he wrote and directed.The premise is that the President of the U.S. (Dennis Quaid) is the puppet of his chief adviser (Willem Dafoe) and has to have an earpiece so he knows what to say. At the beginning of the film, he's reading newspapers and discovering that things in the world aren't quite as they've been described to him. So absorbed is he in this new knowledge, that he won't leave the residence, and rumors surface that he's had a nervous breakdown or is ill. So his Chief of Staff mounts a massive publicity campaign, and one of the things he does is arrange for the President to judge the "American Dreamz" talent contest. Hugh Grant is the Simon Cowell character who also hosts the show. He wants a Jew and an Arab to compete, plus someone really yummy (Mandy Moore).An idiot terrorist, Iqbal Riza (Tony Yalda) is sent to the U.S. to get him out of the way, and he lives with his cousins. His goal in life is to be on American Dreamz. However, the day the Dreamz committee arrives in response to his tape, his terrorist cousin Omer (Sam Golzali) is in his stage/basement setup doing a song from Guys and Dolls. He's scooped up for American Dreamz, which makes Iqbal a) furious and b) his choreographer. The terrorist bosses devise a bomb that Omer will retrieve in the mens room to kill himself and the President - but he has to get to the final round.This comedy is truly outrageous. I just wish we could have seen a few more numbers from Omer and his cousin - for me, the competition just made the movie. In my opinion also, it would have been funnier if the Mandy Moore character of Sally Kendoo had been below par - she actually was pretty good. When Omer went into "The Impossible Dream" and one of the terrorists criticizes the choice of song to his fellow cell members, it was hilarious.It is incredibly nervy to show terrorists assembling pieces of a bomb for Omer to put together and juxtapose it with a mindless competition - nervy because it's the old Hitchcock terror in normal places idea that is scary indeed.After all Omer has been told about the evils in America, it must seem like a pretty silly place to him - but tempting - and he goes after the American Dream on American Dreamz. Sally Kendoo, looking for all the world like an innocent hometown girl, is anything but, as ruthless as they come, even taking advantage of an Iraqui vet she doesn't love to pull in audience votes. Grant is appropriately sleazy as Martin Tweed, Quaid good as an out of it President just finding his own voice, and Marcia Gay Harden has a small but colorful role as the First Lady.Most of the characters are sketchy and not likable - except for Omer and his cousin, who are a riot. If only real young terrorists were the way these two are depicted.