45
Metascore
37 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanA blithe, funny, and engaging movie.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThis movie seems better suited as cable or video fare than for theatrical viewing.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterA film with none of the heart that has characterized Weitz's best work and none of the freshness of his most successful.
- 50New York Magazine (Vulture)New York Magazine (Vulture)To keep his satirist’s street cred, Weitz chases the sentimentality with sour slaps at the audience. But for all its supposed outrageousness, American Dreamz has a soft center.
- 50Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanThe vision of America as a vast, ratings-driven amateur hour is not without promise, but Weitz's movie, named for the most popular TV program in its parallel universe, is disappointingly soft in its individual characterizations.
- 50L.A. WeeklyScott FoundasL.A. WeeklyScott FoundasAs in his previous "In Good Company," Weitz wants too much to like all of his characters, and he wants us to like them too. The result is a movie devoid of any threat, or many laughs, with barn door–broad performances.
- 40VarietyRobert KoehlerVarietyRobert KoehlerCombining a gallery of targets including President Bush, "American Idol," the Iraq War and the overarching theme of a nation of citizens held in the thrall of phony dreams, pic and its ambitions are undermined by insistent cartoonishness and comic ineptitude.
- 40Austin ChronicleMarrit IngmanAustin ChronicleMarrit IngmanMaybe America will prove me wrong by voting, but I felt like you were holding back until the end.
- 30The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneThis picture ain't funny. I winced three times, and gave a couple of short laughs, but that was it.
- 25Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerWeitz doesn't have the chops for satire, let alone black comedy.