Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: AMERICAN DREAMZ (Universal)

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-18-2006, 04:11 AM:

AMERICAN DREAMZ - I am always embarrassed when a studio wants to use our theatre for a sneak preview and the title doesn;t even draw enough of a crowd to warrant opening the concessions. 250 people might be a full house in the local multiplexes but in a 2450 seat theatre, it looks pawltry. But then again, did was the film. As one of my coworkers put it, "Gee Frankie, what's that noise in the theatre? It sounds like barking. Oh, yah...it's the film. It's a DOG!"

Actually it has some funny moments as a spoof on American Idol, but it was all so predictable. Most of the time you actually WISHED there was a laugh track. It would have at least told me when it was the director THOUGHT it was funny.

It is replete with shallow contestants and even more shallow producers and a half-witt President (Dennis Quaid) being coached by a Carl Rove-like character (Willem Defoe) who feeds him lines during his speeches through a receiver in the ear. Then of course it malfuctions with feedback....who would have seen THAT coming?! It pokes fun at a TV crew for "manufacturing" the news moment they are supposed to capture -- what a fresh, new expose....no one would have ever dreamed THAT happens.

I've got to hand it to the marketing dept. though....the 1-sheets are brilliant -- must have taken them weeks to come up with the campaign because they didn't have any when I screened it three weeks ago. It makes it sound like it is going to be a really smart, intellegent, biting satire about our government. But it is less than sophomoric humor and has the intelligence of a dung beetle....one of the dumber ones at that.

One of the most agregious of plot lines is the portrayal of the "terrorists" as evil Arabs and their suicide plot to blow up the President during a TV appearance. I guess political correctness went out the window over at NBC-Universal.

The cast does turn out decent performances as well as could be expected with such silly situations and worse dialogue. There are some mild laughs, but it's not much more than a bad made-for-tv movie. Another AMERICAN PIE is sure isn't, althought they keep reminding us that it is from the "same people." I predict it will come and go before Ryan Secrest can say, "And now our next contestant." Long legs it won't have.

2 barks out of 5.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 04-18-2006, 08:43 AM:

One of the taglines this movie is using is "Imagine a world where more people vote for the next contestant than they do for President". This is of course a fallacious argument as only about seven million people actually vote on American Idol, and just repeatedly vote over and over again. The producers of course gleefully ignore this fact for us as they proudly announce that over a hundred million people voted last year.

And a movie based on this concept? Well if that is what the movie is, it won't last two weeks in theaters.

Ciao

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 04-18-2006, 03:49 PM:

I always have high hopes for a film that doesn't give a sliver of storyline in TV spots.

That'll keep em coming in askin' [Mad]

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 04-21-2006, 02:40 PM:

Pretty much nothing but liberal propaganda. This movie could have been very funny if the jokes would have been at least somewhat subtle. 2 out of 5.

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 04-23-2006, 02:25 PM:

Agreed. This movie is pure [bs]

. I don't know what happened to Paul Weitz. I guess he should have stuck to the American Pie series type of movies.

In an even sadder note, I was the only person in the theater for the 7:00pm showing on Friday night.