American Dreamz (2006)

The new season of "American Dreamz," the wildly popular television singing contest, has captured the country's attention, as the competition looks to be between a young Midwestern gal (Moore) and a showtunes-loving young man from Orange County (Golzari). Recently awakened President Staton (Quaid) even wants in on the craze, as he signs up for the potential explosive season finale.

Director:

Paul Weitz

Writer:

Paul Weitz

Stars:

Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Grant	...	Martin Tweed
Dennis Quaid	...	President Staton
Mandy Moore	...	Sally Kendoo
Willem Dafoe	...	Chief of Staff
Chris Klein	...	William Williams
Jennifer Coolidge	...	Martha Kendoo
Sam Golzari	...	Omer
Marcia Gay Harden	...	First Lady
Seth Meyers	...	Chet Krogl
John Cho	...	Ittles
Judy Greer	...	Accordo
Bernard White	...	Agha Babur
Tony Yalda	...	Iqbal Riza
Noureen DeWulf	...	Shazzy Riza
Shohreh Aghdashloo	...	Nazneen Riza

Storyline

Martin Tweed is the host of a talent show called American Dreamz, and whilst he despises each new season, it's a hit with the ratings. Tweed decides it's time for a new and interesting batch of contestants, and sends out his team to find the weirdest bunch possible. Whilst all this is happening, the President of the United States is becoming more and more depressed, and relies on his Chief of Staff to talk him through everything, even into appearing as a judge on the TV show. Perfect news for the terrorists who use the talent contest as a way to reach the President.

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Plot Keywords:

contest | chief of staff | competition | terrorist | television | 

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Taglines:

Everyone's gotta have....

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

UIP [fr] UIP [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

21 April 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Muriendo por un sueño

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Center Studios - 450 S. Bixel Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$509,217 (Australia) (28 April 2006)

Gross:

£2,158,359 (UK) (12 May 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Depth of Field

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mandy Moore was Paul Weitz's only choice for the role of Sally Kendoo.

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Goofs

On the tray with the President's breakfast there's a small coffee pot placed right at the middle of the tray, obscuring the reflection of the camera. When the tray enters the President's bedroom, the pot has moved to the side of the tray.

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Quotes

Iqbal Riza: She's a very freaky girl, the kind you don't bring home to mother. She's a super freak, super freak, she's super freaky. Ohhhhhhh
Iqbal Riza: [Iqbal coughs]
[turns and talks into the mirror]
Iqbal Riza: Wrong, do you want this? Do you? Well than get your ass in gear!

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Connections

References Pimp My Ride (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Greased Lightnin'"
from Grease
Written by Warren Casey & Jim Jacobs
Performed by Sam Golzari

User Reviews

a RARE satire because it breaks taboos about what we can satirize

Perhaps this film has gotten mixed reviews because it breaks an unwritten code about how far a movie can go in satirizing America's myths. When before have we seen the President of the United States on happy pills and robotic-ally pro- gram-med by his Rovelike handlers ? Who would suggest that an Al-Quaeda training camp could be funny and that someone in it has up scale all-American relatives in Orange County, California ? Could our love affair with American Idol be an escape from the collapsing American middle class way of life ?

This film IS often funny but it doesn't want that humor to stay in a feel good zone. It WANTS to make us uncomfortable and to face things that we don't want to look at too closely. The "sin" that this film has committed is that it wants us to grow up.