I have to admit that I've never seen an episode of American Idol. However, as you probably already know, millions of people do watch it every week and as even the tagline for this movie points out; more people vote for the contestants on that show than vote in Presidential elections. That being the case, who thought it would be a good idea (and one that people would pay to see) to make a movie that makes fun of, not only the show, but the people who watch it? And not in an inclusive, "Let's laugh at ourselves!" kind of way, but in a mean-spirited, "Aren't you a bunch of idiots!" way.
The plot of the movie involves a group of characters all involved with the television show American Dreamz, which is a not very disguised takeoff on American Idol, complete with smarmy and insulting British Host. Instead of Simon Cowell, we have Hugh Grant playing host Martin Tweed. To Grant's credit he plays the vile host very well. And he isn't the only actor turning in a fine performance. Mandy Moore as the "I'll do anything to win, while seeming wholesome and sweet on the outside" contestant on the show also does a terrific job.
For the newest season, Tweed decides to bring in a few ringers to spice up the show. One of them is an Arab (because he wants both an Arab and a Hassidic Jew on the stage together) who also happens to be part of a Terrorist Sleeper Cell. Omer, the Arab Terrorist, was sent to California because he was a horrible terrorist and his group hoped to keep him out of the way. The one thing that made him unique was his love of show tunes.
When, in an attempt to boost his sagging approval ratings, the President of the United States (Quaid) agrees to be a guest Judge on American Dreamz, Omer's Terrorist group decides that this is their chance to assassinate the President by smuggling in explosives for Omer to detonate when he is on stage.
While all of these goings on do elicit some genuine laughs, the movie isn't nearly as funny as it should be and blame clearly lands on writer/director Paul Weitz. Weitz, who did such a good job with In Good Company, and About a Boy, does not know how to make a satire. Particularly bad is the character of President Staton. He is obviously meant to be a caricature of President Bush, but he is too fully fleshed out and made too human to be strictly a satiric look at the President. To feature the character of a stupid President in an all-out comedy can be fun and funny. Leslie Nielsen in the recent Scary Movie 4 is funny. Will Ferrell's "impersonation" of George Bush on Saturday Night Live was funny. And that's because they weren't real people, they were exaggerated impersonations. But to make a President this incredibly stupid and have the audience laugh at him only to turn around and try to make him all too human, is not funny, it's actually quite sad.
What is funny is to propose the idea, as this movie does, that the President could find out the truth of what's happening in the world simply by reading the newspaper. The implication is that the President's staff is only feeding him their side of the story. Well, it's a good thing he's got the New York Times to give him a full and unbiased version of the news. They NEVER have a political agenda in that paper.
The movie does achieve some real laughs, but most of them are from the supporting characters. Seth Meyers does a great job as the slimy agent that Sally immediately hires when she finds out that she's going to be on the show. Omer's flamboyantly gay cousin, who helps choreograph Omer's dance numbers, is also worth a few laughs. They, unlike the main characters, are never fleshed out and are instead played completely for laughs, which makes them (guess what!?!) very funny. Not that you can't have funny characters who are fully fleshed out, but it undercuts the comedy here.
American Dreamz is obviously meant to be a satire of the American way of life and this country's seeming obsession with fame and money. That's fine. I enjoy satire and am perfectly able to laugh at myself and this country, but not with this movie. It's too mean-spirited and doesn't seem to invite you to laugh with it, but rather seems to be laughing at the very same people it expects to plunk down money to see it. When the most sympathetic character in the movie is a potential suicide bomber, you know something's wrong.
