SYNOPSIS:
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. A satire
who focuses on reality shows like American Idol. Sally's (Mandy
Moore) dream is to become a music star and to participate in
American Dreamz show. In order to achieve this, she leaves her
boyfriend and mixes up with the host (Hugh Grant) of the program.
Meanwhile, an Arabian boy travels to the USA to visit their
relatives and, accidentally, he becomes a participant of the
show. The president of the USA (Dennis Quaid) is kind of depressed,
but the vice president comes up with the idea of a live presentation
in the show...
MOVIE
REVIEW :
Admit
it, all of you out there have dreamt of being a star. The
fame, the glamour, the popularity, what’s there not
to like? Oh, in case you have forgotten, the key word here
is “dream”.
While
the optimistic will tell you that it is important to dream
and stay hopeful, the pessimistic will tell you that it is
quite sad that what we do best in our sad little lives is
to dream. Confused about what this review is getting at? This
is what exactly this movie is like, uncertain and undecided
about its direction.
The plot
tells the everyday story of common people who dream of being
stars. Participating in reality television shows seems to
be the best and most convenient outlet for these people. There
is Sally, who is willing to go all out to be on the series.
Then there is Omer, who travels to the USA and becomes an
accidental star on the show. Even the president is interested
in getting himself some airtime on the show, in the name of
good press.
While
you may share the same sentiments as us, thinking that this
is a very interesting premise, there is just something not
right in this mix.
The movie
attempts to explore the possibility of putting up a satire
about the world we live in, which has become how it is today,
thanks to the mass media, globalization and all those important
academic issues.
On the
other hand, there is some attempt at having fun, with songs,
music and comedy to create a lighthearted mood. You’d
enjoy the performances of Mandy Moore (who plays the materialistic
Sally) and Sam Gozeri (who plays the endearing Omer). You’d
enjoy how Dennis Quaid plays his wimpy President role. You’d
also enjoy Hugh Grant’s character as the game host,
although he is no Simon Cowell (or Ken Lim for that matter).
That is
quite a lot to pack into 107 minutes, if you ask us.
The
movie is still quite enjoyable overall, thanks to Paul Weitz’s
ability to come up with immensely enjoyable sequences of contestants
singing their hearts out, and wannabes practicing their vocals.
While Weitz’s past works include 2002’s Without
A Boy and 2004’s In Good Company, his latest work is
interlaced with some rather odd scenes which seem out of place.
Serious scenes about terrorism and racism just do not gel
with the whole mood of the movie.
Performance
wise, Moore is definitely one understated actress singer.
While she may not be your typical pretty face, her unique
X-factor is what we like about her. Grant’s playboy
character suits this role well, while Quaid’s aloofness
is a pleasurable watch too. The all-star cast is rounded up
by very capable actors like the reliable Willem Dafoe and
Marcia Gay Harden, and the engaging Chris Klein and John Cho.
We
really wanted this to be a pleasant dream, with all the above
likeable cast. But like all dreams, there should be a time
when you wake up and face the somewhat harsh realities around
you.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD only includes two trailers from Universal
Pictures – The Break Up and You, Me And Dupree
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual transfer on this
disc is fine, while there are interesting options of English
Dolby 5.1, Japanese 5.1 and Thai 5.1 to listen to. Sometimes
we wonder who gets the interesting jobs of dubbing these DVDs.
MOVIE
RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review
by John Li
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