Movie Review: American Dreamz

Some satires, like Network, hold a mirror up to society and say, "Here is what you look like. Hate yourself." Other satires, such as American Dreamz, hold up a fun house mirror and say, "How ridiculous you look! So let's all have a good laugh and find a way out of this carnival!" But writer and director Paul Weitz (About a Boy, American Pie) backs away from labeling American Dreamz a satire. In fact, stealing a line from famed playwright (and sometime satirist) George S. Kaufman, Weitz said, "Satire is what closes on Saturday night. American Dreamz is a comedy." Regardless of what genre you think it should occupy, American Dreamz is a bittersweet, funny film -- maybe a satire, maybe not -- that takes aim at American politics, Middle Eastern terrorists, and the cultural phenomenon of reality TV. Never mind that the gun is firing rubber bullets. They still sting, if only occasionally. (Continue reading American Dreamz...)