American Dreamz, directed by Paul Weitz, is based on the TV program American Idol, except that the host is Martin Tweed (played by Hugh Grant), and the guest judge of the two finalists is American President Staton (played by Dennis Quaid, a Houstonian whose accent is close to that of George W. Bush). Among the contestants, Omer (played by Sam Golzari) has recently arrived in Orange County from a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, where he was more interested in singing and dancing than in bombmaking. Indeed, he was relocated to get rid of his bad influence in the camp. However, when he competes in a contest that will place him near the President, his buddies go to California in order to encourage him so that they can get him to blow up the president in an act of martyrdom. The President, meanwhile, wears a small transmitter in his ear, so that his chief of staff (played by Willem Dafoe), who is supposed to resemble Vice President Dick Cheney, can tell him what to say. Staton appears to be quite clueless without the device, even bored with his assignment as puppet president, in a characterization that borrows stereotypes from Jay Leno's Bush lookalike. When Omer emerges as a finalist, his training camp pals outfit him with a bomb worn under his clothing, and the president loses the transmitter during his performance of "My Way." And there is a corny end to the silly film that is intended to be satirical but instead is nearly slapstick. MH
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