by Frank Calvillo
Guy Ritchie’s loud and stylish take on the cult ’60s TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. opens this Friday. No doubt the director is trying to revitalize the franchise in a way similar to his re-working of Sherlock Holmes with plenty of flair and action to go around.
One of the more standout aspects of the film is the casting of Hugh Grant as Waverly, the boss assigned to babysit the feuding agents. Though its only a supporting role, its refreshing to see Grant take on something that isn’t a throwaway Marc Lawrence-directed rom-com. Its proof that the actor cares about taking on different kinds of projects, even if it means he isn’t the main focus.
Though it slipped past everybody’s radar, the most fun instance in which Grant allowed himself to do this was in the highly underrated ensemble satire American Dreamz.
Set smack dab in the world of 2006, American Dreamz follows the host of a singing competition show named Martin (Grant), celebrity hopeful Sally (Mandy Moore), ameateur terrorist Omer (Sam Golzari), and the President of the U.S. (Dennis Quaid) as they each grapple to find their rightful places within a crazy society. After succeeding as a contestant on Martin’s show, American Dreamz, Omer is forced into smuggling an explosive onto the stage with him when it is revealed that President Staton will be in attendance.
A large portion of American Dreamz definitely feels like an SNL skit that’s extra heavy on the satire and features an assortment of hosts taking on obvious personas of famous counterparts. Quaid’s President Staton is a pure Bush clone while Grant channels Simon Cowell to bring Martin Tweed to life, and Moore embodies the kind of small-town girl personality that made Kelly Clarkson a star. If a number of American Dreamz’ moments are larger than life, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t hysterical. Scenes such as President Staton barricading himself in his room out of fear of facing the press or Sally excitedly screaming after being informed that she’s a contestant, only being told to repeat her reaction because it wasn’t caught on camera, work as both solid comedy and sharp satire.
As outrageous as most of American Dreamz is, no one can ever deny its tragic and on-point accuracy. There’s the President who is fed every piece of information his wife and chief advisor believe he should know, the calculating fame-hungry wannabe willing to sell out anyone out for the promise mass adoration, one of the most famous men on television who exhibits nothing but self-loathing for everyone, including himself, and the threat of a terrorist attack lurking underneath the surface.
There’s a certain point in American Dreamz where the laughs pause and are replaced with actual moments of clarity and pathos enjoyed by each character. We see Sally’s questioning her choice at selling herself out to fame, President Staton genuinely trying to be the leader the people elected him to be, and Martin trying to run away from the monster he’s become. “Sometimes I look at you and see my own reflection,” he tells Sally at one point. “It’s revolting.”
The greatest of these storylines is of course Omer’s. As an arab forced into being a terrorist and later rejected from that world, his coming to America represents the promise of dreams he’s always kept secret. His orders to set off a bomb on a national television show give Omer real conflict regarding who he is and to to whom he owes his loyalty.
Though it faced no real stiff competition, American Dreamz’ box office performance was more than dismal. Audiences simply didn’t want to spend money to watch stars remind them about the kind of country they were living in and how much it had gone off the rails. Critics, meanwhile, found the material too on the nose to be clever and largely panned the film.
Indeed, the points in American Dreamz aren’t made in subtle ways. But then again, they aren’t exactly subtle points. Looking back, its hard not to applaud the filmmakers for stopping and being inspired to make a film which so hilariously and truthfully asked: What is going on here?!