Okay, "American Dreamz" is not the best movie I've ever seen. But it did make me laugh, and it's chock full of talent.
Plot: a young terrorist is assigned to blow himself up on the television show "American Dreamz" while President Staton is a judge for the show.
"American Dreamz" = "American Idol." President Staton = George Bush Willem Dafoe plays a Dick Cheney like character.
Hugh Grant plays a Simon Callow like character.
Hugh Grant, as the calculating, sadistic, game show host, shows us his inner snake, and it's a pleasure making the snake's acquaintance. Grant is convincingly cynical, twisted, and, at a key moment, vulnerable and poignant. And always funny.
Shoreh Aghdashloo, better known for operatic parts in serious dramas like "House of Sand and Fog," reveals a wonderful gift for comedy. I can only hope she ever gets to play comedy again.
Newcomer Sam Golzari is a poignantly convincing "everyman" driven to terrorism over grief at the death of his mother. The scene where he dances to Bob Fosse while in a terrorist training camp is worth the price of admission.
Another newcomer, Tony Yalda, is funny, commanding, and completely believable as a young show business wannabe. His every move is perfect, even as he watches his luckier cousin perform onstage. When he catches flaws in his own technique -- as he watches himself in his full length mirror -- his look of despair at his own failings is, there's that word again -- poignant.
Dennis Quaid, doing a George Bush imitation, somehow manages to keep his considerable sex appeal intact. How, I don't know.
Chris Klein, Mandy Moore, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Coolidge -- these are very talented people and they are all perfect.
What isn't so great is the direction. It lacks the timing and snap of good comedic pacing. And there is a certain amount of incoherence in the script.
So, yeah, the movie isn't perfect, but it dares to poke fun at topics that have us all stymied, and to earn real laughs.
Plot: a young terrorist is assigned to blow himself up on the television show "American Dreamz" while President Staton is a judge for the show.
"American Dreamz" = "American Idol." President Staton = George Bush Willem Dafoe plays a Dick Cheney like character.
Hugh Grant plays a Simon Callow like character.
Hugh Grant, as the calculating, sadistic, game show host, shows us his inner snake, and it's a pleasure making the snake's acquaintance. Grant is convincingly cynical, twisted, and, at a key moment, vulnerable and poignant. And always funny.
Shoreh Aghdashloo, better known for operatic parts in serious dramas like "House of Sand and Fog," reveals a wonderful gift for comedy. I can only hope she ever gets to play comedy again.
Newcomer Sam Golzari is a poignantly convincing "everyman" driven to terrorism over grief at the death of his mother. The scene where he dances to Bob Fosse while in a terrorist training camp is worth the price of admission.
Another newcomer, Tony Yalda, is funny, commanding, and completely believable as a young show business wannabe. His every move is perfect, even as he watches his luckier cousin perform onstage. When he catches flaws in his own technique -- as he watches himself in his full length mirror -- his look of despair at his own failings is, there's that word again -- poignant.
Dennis Quaid, doing a George Bush imitation, somehow manages to keep his considerable sex appeal intact. How, I don't know.
Chris Klein, Mandy Moore, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Coolidge -- these are very talented people and they are all perfect.
What isn't so great is the direction. It lacks the timing and snap of good comedic pacing. And there is a certain amount of incoherence in the script.
So, yeah, the movie isn't perfect, but it dares to poke fun at topics that have us all stymied, and to earn real laughs.