Review of American Dreamz (2006) by David K — 02 Apr 2008

First fifteen minutes are sheer brilliance; a ridiculous but clearly apt spoof on President Bush perfectly done by Quaid, and the cold, terrifically dark Grant plays on Simon Cowell with ease. Mandy Moore is beautifully cruel and unpredictable.

Well cast. Unfortunately the whole potential falls apart within twenty minutes. The rest is a sloping bore lingering too long with uninteresting characters and failing to grab and throttle even the obvious satirical targets.

Final ten minutes almost reach the first's height, but the sheer dead-weight of its middle deflates it too much. Had Grant, Quaid and Moore spent more time on their sharper tips and dropped every other character and scene (especially the annoying and silly Omer which completely misses its opportunity to take an ironic stab at terrorism and instead drives into the ground with endless maddening Showtunes) this film mightve worked, and its a shame.

Shouldve had it done by the Chaser's boys.