“American Dreamz” aspires to be a social and political satire for the 2000’s … the era of George W. and American Idol. The Paul Weitz-directed movie takes aim at the way Americans live, but his attacks are toothless and his blows are glancing. And while the movie sounds topical to 2006, it is probably three years too late; that’s when Saturday Night Live was doing this stuff. And the SNL version had another advantage over “Dreamz” … the SNL skits were actually funny!

In this satire-wannabe, Hugh Grant plays the arrogant and narcissistic Englishman Martin Tweed, the host-and-judge-combined for a top-ranking TV show, American Dreamz. Dreamz is a televised talent show in which the public contestants, desperately seeking fame, display their performance skills both big and small, get an often-ruthless critique from Tweed, and then are subjected to a phone-in vote from viewers. Although the previous season of Dreamz was successful, Tweed is tired of having the same types of characters on the show, so he employs his assistants to find more eccentric and varied people to compete in the new season.

One such hopeful contender is Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore), a young Mid-Western girl with fair talent but lots of ambitions; the only reality Sally seems to know is what she watches on reality TV shows. The other contenders of note are an orthodox cantor turned rapper, and a charming-yet-untalented young Arab named Omer (Sam Golzari), who just so happens to have been trained as a terrorist in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, President Staton (Dennis Quaid) has just won reelection, but despite the victory, he’s depressed and bedridden and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. There’s nothing the first lady (Marcia Gay Harden as a Laura Bush-like character) or

the Chief of Staff (Willem Defoe as a Dick Cheney/Karl Rove combo) can do to lift his morale. Staton has locked himself in his bedroom and reads newspapers and watches TV, rather than the daily briefings of his Chief of Staff.  The media speculates about Staton’s condition, and his approval ratings slip to new lows. President Staton decides that, for his big public comeback and to show the people that he’s still a functional leader, he is going to make an appearance as a guest judge on the season-ending episode of American Dreamz. And when news spreads about the President’s intent, Omer is sent into action by his sleeper cell, and ordered to martyr himself for the cause. 

The targets of the movie’s satire are broad and easy, a combination of 9/11 issues and pop-culture problems: incompetent Presidency, the war in Iraq, TV shows like American Idol, greedy and disingenuous Hollywood-types, obsession about TV-dictated successes, etc.  The movie is a bit confusing, in that it is part satire, part spoof, and part political cautionary tale, and to make matters worse, it doesn’t do any of it very well.

As a political commentary, “Dreamz” basically depicts the President as a helpless and out of touch buffoon. That’s hardly new and daring, right? And to spoof a cheesy TV talent show like American Idol is hardly original, as even Idol’s most fanatic viewers don’t take it too seriously, and its prior contestants are the best experts at spoofing it.  The film depicts American culture to be lacking any creativity and only fixated on aspirational images, yet this same critique applies to the movie in spades. Every element of the movie, from the storyline to the characters themselves, are overstated, and the whole movie has a cartoonish tone of ineptitude.

Using comedy as a tool for social and political satire is effective, when it is done well. But writer and director Paul Weitz misses the mark at most every turn, and most of the comic moments fall flat.  This is easily the Weitz’s weakest movie to date (his career is otherwise highlighted by “About a Boy” as well as the “American Pie” series).  And if you are interested in seeing a political satire done right, I encourage you to go see “Thank You For Smoking” instead.