Reality fails to bite

Hugh Grant as the self-aggrandising and self-hating host of a hit American TV talent show? Odd casting - but it works. Dennis Quaid as a bumbling US President, who just wants, like Garbo, to be left alone? That works well, too. But Paul Weitz's comedy pokes fun at reality television with a blundering hand and can't seem to get its timing right.

Three wannabe stars are fighting it out on primetime TV to become America's latest singing celebrity: an Arab (Sam Golzari), a Jew (Adam Busch) and a spiteful Southern belle (Mandy Moore).

Grant's slightly sleazy Martin Tweed has hit upon a wonderful idea: to invite the President on to be a guest judge of the final showdown. It transpires, however, that the Arab contestant has come straight from Afghanistan with orders to shake the hand of the President before blowing himself up.

Though American Dreamz has its funny moments, a good many of the jokes and situations fall flat under an emphasis that's either too broad or not broad enough.

Strange how cinema, when taking aim at television, often gets it wrong. But there's some entertainment to be had despite the overall disappointment.

American Dreamz
Cert: 12A