American Dreamz is a kind of film that strives hard for the audience to be pleased. It tackles subject matters that are mostly thought-provoking and both socially and politically challenging. I don't want to say directly whether American Dreamz is a pleasure to watch or disappointing because it would be truly unfair if I would say this has been deliberately devastating.
Let's balance this all. American Dreamz is a comedy. For a comedy, it's a so-so. It doesn't really gets your nerves, like the way you laughed in most comedy films, although I smiled and chuckled in some of the scenes. Especially that scene where Omar's cousin was so upset about having his dreams stolen, and when his mum told him 'We love you," he retorted back, 'Is that going to make me famous?' A simple line like this is brutally true these days, but as what was mentioned all throughout the film, it doesn't perform very well. The writing only strives to become acceptable, not really respectable.
American Dreamz is a pop demonstration. Doing the 'American Idol' show spin-off is great, and showcasing talents singers all over the country seemed realistic enough. I also enjoyed Omar's ridiculous a la William Hung rendition of the song 'Impossible Dream'.
American Dreamz is directed by Paul Weitz, whose brother worked with him in the very brilliant About A Boy. In this film, he almost failed. There was no absolute assurance that this film could be in the top, or maybe critically accepted, and Paul Weitz seemed powerless enough to save this film from its horrendous fate.
American Dreamz is filled with stars. Mandy Moore is delicious enough portraying a bitchy role. Hugh Grant felt like the thinner figure of Simon Cowell. Dennis Quaid looked corny as the President of the U.S. of A.
Now, what I liked in the film was its being a political and social satire. It's very true indeed that there are more people voting for Americal Idol and for the country's future stars than voting for the President. This is where American Dreamz felt strong enough as a film. Also, socially speaking, people who had ambitions do anything just to reached their dreams, especially the character of Mandy Moore in here. The finale of the show was literally explosive, and terrorist plot had been all over the scene - done in a funny way. Terrorist had never been so stupid, really. And the President was even portrayed as a daft Texan who acted like a puppet under the strings of a the Speaker of the House, played by Willem Dafoe, who really looked like a double persona of Dick Cheney.
All in all, American Dreamz is just halfway of being a good film and a bad film. One thing I knew for sure, it could be easily forgotten. Hilarious? Yes. But as a film, nah, it all felt too much like a sitcom.

Rating: B-