American Dreamz
Never having seen American Idol, I can't judge the parody value of Paul Weitz's American Dreamz, the show within the movie of the same name. ("That's 'dreams' with a 'z'.") The idea behind the show, however, brings out my inner elitist. To the extent that American Idol represents this country, I am not at all patriotic.
So I loved American Dreamz, for its tart and edgy contempt. Mandy Moore has too-pretty looks that make one wish for Reese Witherspoon - but she can do Reese Witherspoon while reminding you of Lana Turner. Her Sally Kendoo is sincere about only one thing, her ambition. You expect her to be vapid, but she's dynamite. It's no wonder that she and Hugh Grant's Martin Tweed, the show's host, come to a deep understanding, even if no one would characterize it as love. Martin is detestable without ever actually doing anything bad - and you wouldn't want him any different. Chris Klein takes the role that he had in Election and jerks it up a bit to give us a very sappy William Williams, Sally's boyfriend. And what could be more fun than Jennifer Coolidge in the role of Mom?
Dennis Quaid's send-up of President Bush is actually rather kind, because you would never call his President Staton, as David Remnick called Mr Bush, "a schoolyard bully."* Staton may be clueless, but he's a nice guy who genuinely means well. Willem Defoe plays his chief of staff as a sort of Cheney-Rumsfeld meld; don't be surprised if it takes a while to recognize the actor. Marcia Gay Harden seems to have been hand-picked to pass for Laura Bush; in the film, at any rate, the First Lady gets some real responsibility.
It was hard to see from the trailers how a movie with an explosive devicer could be funny. Omer (winningly played by Sam Golzari) is a confused young man who only becomes interesting to his terrorist trainers by a set of curious chances, by which time Omer has had serious second thoughts. I wondered just who would perish if and when the bomb went off. the writers didn't go for my first choice, but there was a good deal of justice in their picks. Tony Yalda, as Omer's diva-queen cousin, gets high marks for audacity.
Everybody's great in this very funny slap in the face. When we run out of oil and air, those who come after us can see from American Dreamz just how wrong everything got to be.
*"Ozone Man"; The New Yorker, 24 April, p 47
