This is a hilarious, if not perfect, satire. Mainly making fun of everything related to American pop culture, this also dedicates effort to parodying the administration of the time(and not doing anything to make it less obvious that that's what it's about)... and as something nice and different, it's about their personalities, not their politics. The humor is excellent, with a lot of dark comedy and absurdity, as well as cleverness. There is a lot of bravery in how far it goes to mock certain things, and I found the vast majority of it hysterical. With that said, some jokes and gags try too hard and fall flat. And I won't be an ass and claim that "everyone who doesn't like this doesn't get it". Weitz also directed American Pie and Down to Earth, and like in the first-mentioned, this juggles several plot-lines well. The characters are mostly credible, if not all the events are. It should perhaps be mentioned that you are, in fact, not supposed to sympathize with everyone in this, and it also is worth noting that there *are* a couple of likable ones, that you can relate to. The performances are a tad mixed, but they tend to be good. Klein is great, as is Grant. Greer isn't given enough to do, in my opinion. And yes, Moore is pretty annoying. She's not an actress, or wasn't at this point. The singing in this is enjoyable. There is occasional sexuality(and a little eye-candy, for both genders),mainly hinted at, sometimes in dialog(no details),and brief strong language in this. I recommend this to anyone that can imagine being entertained by it. 7/10

This satire on fame, politics and the Middle East might had been a brave undertaking back in 2006 but falls woefully short of its targets.

Hugh Grant plays a creator, host and producer of an American Idol type show but he is capable of being more cynical, bitter, twisted than the Simon Cowell lite version we have here.

It was a waste of Grant's talents that such an opportunity for him to shine was wasted.

Dennis Quaid plays the spaced out President of the USA who becomes a guest judge for the final, but Quaid's President is just a barely sketched out role and rather dull and boring part of the film.

Only Willem Dafoe in heavy makeup shines as a Dick Cheney type manipulator. Once again Dafoe shows that even heavily disguised he can play fast and loose than the more uptight portrayals when he is without it.

The rest of the film concerns a would be Middle East terrorist who loves show tunes and ends up visiting wealthy relatives in the USA, a rapping Jewish rabbi and a trailer trash go getter who will stop at nothing to get to the top and her dim boyfriend who joins the armed forces.

Together they somehow end up in the Pop Idol type show, but the satire on talent shows, the manipulation of the media, politics and people could be had been more sharper and cynical.

Some of it works but it is too hit and miss and could had gone deeper under the skin but I guess the film-makers lost their edge when it came to the final cut.

A thin red line that is. And it tries to balance the non-PC jokes and it's sarcasm, with the social commentary it wants to give, at once. It often fails while it attempts that (some jokes just don't work out),but sometimes you get really great jokes out of it. That's why I think this movie is fun enough.

The actors seem to enjoy their roles (especially Hugh Grant, who can let loose here and be "free" in his character depiction),with Mandy Moore being a talent to watch. It might come as shock to most, but might be actually good at acting! Other than that you have multiple characters and story lines that make a whole in the end, but leave a little bitter taste in your mouth ... I'd like to give it more stars, but it's just not "that" good, it's just good! :o)