| Overall Grade: |
B |
|
| Story: |
B+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
A |
|
|
| Direction: |
B- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A |
|
|
fun but uneven
by Rebecca P (movies profile)
May 20, 2008
19
of
26 people found this review helpful
I got to see this movie as a sneak preview a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it but it wasn't brilliant or inspiring. The plot is absolutely ridiculous - a terrorist becomes a contestant on an American Idol-style singing show and is given the assignment of blowing up the President while he is guest judging the finale as a PR stunt. Get past that absurd setup and you will find that this comedy is much smarter than it initially appears. When we are first introduced to the many cliche characters (Arab terrorists, a gay wannabe singer, a dumb President with a Southern accent, a Mid-Western girl who will do anything or anyone to become famous, a cocky British TV host etc) the audience is already very, very familiar with real life people and movie stereotypes they are all lampooning. Don't think that this is just an extended SNL sketch though. It gets better. As the story moves on you see that the people are not so one-sided. Even the most manipulative, dumb or cruel persons are given an endearing moment or two. Credit a laundary list of great actors (yes, even Mandy Moore) for making what could easily have been a bunch of forgetable cheap shots at American pop culture and politics into a heartfelt and funny morality tale. That's right, underneath the venear of comedy, American Dreamz deals with some serious subjects. In the end you see that the film isn't making fun of Americans but the pursuit of "the American dream." The moral of the story is that none of the things people will do for power and glory, (using sex, violence, money, and even joining the military and running for political office) is worth it. The great thing about the film is that it skewers people from all walks of life, even the media itself. The media is held responsible for helping to create and maintain 'the American dream' which is what leads to people's unhappiness either because they can't achieve it (as is the case with the terrorists and jilted singing contestants) or because they have and it wasn't fulfilling (as with Sally Kendoo [get the name?], the President and Martin Tweed). It turns out that what everyone really wants is love and a sense of accomplishment. Through all this social criticism there are some great, light-hearted jokes but also a few flat ones. Probably the best moment is when Omer, the chosen suicide bomber, sings Frank Sinatra's "My Way" as his swan song. There were people in the audience clapping it was so amusing!
My biggest quibbles: the dialogue and the denoument. There are many occasions on which characters state the extremely obvious. You'd have to be pretty slow to need such dialogue in order to understand the film. Secondly, the various plot lines are rapidly summed up in a few minutes. As with the stating-the-obvious dialogue this is probably a side effect of having such a large ensemble cast. Overall, the construction of the movie is a little messy but it's a fun mess with a good heart. |
My Public Profile 
