On the morning of his re-election, the President decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President's apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as a guest judge on the television ratings juggernaut (and the President's personal fave), the weekly talent show American Dreamz. America can't seem to get enough of American Dreamz, hosted by self-aggrandizing, self-loathing Martin Tweed, ever on the lookout for the next insta-celebrity. His latest crop of hopefuls includes Sally, a conniving steel magnolia with a devoted, dopey veteran boyfriend, and Omer, a recent Southern Californian immigrant (who just happens to be a bumbling, show tune singing, would-be terrorist awaiting activation). When both Sally and Omer make it to the final round of Dreamz -- where the President will be judging along with Tweed -- the stage is set for a show the nation will never forget.

Want to hear a fact that truly saddens me, more people vote for the television show American Idol then they do for the President of the United States. The fact that are President is a blithering moron who is led around like a puppet on a string should be no laughing matter but American Dreamz does just that it laughs at you and it laughs at me for taking a silly inane television show as more important than the politics that could very well decide our lives and those of whom we love. Want to hear a second fact that saddens me maybe more than the first, the fact that the person that is so easy to mock in this movie from never having read a newspaper to being led around like a child by its nose is the fact that he was not just elected once but that he was reelected. So I find myself on the fence about a movie that so easily makes fun of not just the president not just of a silly inane television show but of all the silly stupid Americans out there that will probably never realize that the movie is making fun of them as well even if it didn’t intend to. I didn’t find the jokes that funny because I was more sadden by the state events that made this movie possible, maybe if I checked my brain and my side that always wants argue politics at the door I would have enjoyed the movie more.

So having easily identified the first reason I didn’t find the film that funny I didn’t have to look very far for the second reason or for that matter the third. The second reason is the pretentious prick who calls himself a director by the name of Paul Weitz. I read that he believed this movie to be more of a comedy than a satire and that explained to me so very well why the jokes fell flat and why the comedy of the movie never seemed to entirely work. I am sorry Mr. Wietz if it waddles like a duck, it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck it’s a damn duck and this movie is a satire not a comedy. The fact that the director never realized he was making a satire is why the movie falters and never gains its feet. I like the fact that unlike many spoofs the movie stayed away from the bathroom humor but still don’t be afraid to be a satire. I almost fell asleep during the second of about ten musical montages as the movie seemed to almost turn into the very thing it was making fun of. I get we are making fun of the silly studio engineered talent that American Idol churns out but do we really need a five minute song sung by Mandy Moore to punctuate the fact. To say I was a little bored at certain times during the movie is an understatement and makes it very clear I probably wouldn’t want to see the movie again.

Ok I am sorry the movie had a perfect opportunity to make fun of Simon Cowell and failed miserably. I mean Cowell wears a target so big on his back I am flummoxed on how you could miss until I think of the casting choice of Hugh Grant to play him. Hugh Grant is just too loveable like that mischievous boy caught red handed with his hand in the cookie jar, he doesn’t come off, as anything else and the producers and director should have known this. The rest of the cast was just your litany of stereotypes and clichés so none of them really stood out. I did enjoy Dennis Quaid as the dumbfounder and very true to life President Bush. I wonder if the President will even be smart enough to realize how much he is being mocked in the movie but that’s what I get for electing the stupidest person you could find for one of the most important jobs in the world. The movie can be ok at times and very cruel at others but was a big letdown for me.

Grade: D+