American Dreamz (2006)

Director:

Paul Weitz

Writer (WGA):

Paul Weitz (written by)

Release Date:

21 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

Imagine a country where the President never reads the newspaper, where the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons, and more people vote for a pop idol than their next President.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Chief Of Staff | Contest | Satire | Singing | Television

Cast

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

Also Known As:

American Dreamz (Australia)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12A | Ireland:12A | Australia:M | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:PG | Germany:6 | France:U | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Ireland:PG (video rating) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42341) | Iceland:L | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

NBC Universal Television

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Sally and Omer are talking in the club, there is jazz piano music playing and a man sitting at the piano. He is moving his hands on the piano but it clearly does not correspond to the music.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Agha Babur: You must get to the championship round. When you are on stage with the president, you will have smuggled in an explosive.
Omer: What if I don't make it to the final round?
Agha Babur: Folks don't call me the torturer because I *don't* like to torture people.

Movie Connections:

References "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1986)

Soundtrack:

Riza

Must See/Very Funny

I was able to see an advanced screening of American Dreamz and was not too sure how I would like it before hand. But it was absolutely wonderful. The film was funny and enjoyable. I enjoy everything Paul Weisz has done in the past and American Dreamz is right on par. Hugh Grant great and Mandy Moore did a really good job as well. Dennis Quaid played the President and could not have done it any better. William Dafoe as Vice President and Marcia Gay Harden as First Lady, though, were even better. Reading the plot, I was not sure what I was about to see, but the story lines flow perfect together and it all comes together for an creative film. I highly suggest seeing American Dreamz.