The posters for “American Dreamz” ask viewers to “imagine a country where the president never reads the newspaper / where the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons / and more people vote for a pop idol than their next president.” It almost sounds like the filmmakers are insinuating that this is the country we live in now.

Paul Weitz’s new film tries simultaneously to skewer the American people – or at least those who could be foolish enough to elect a president like George W. Bush or be entertained by a “reality” show like “American Idol” (spoiler alert: “American Idol” may be 100% real) – while getting them to pay money to watch his movie. But the movie is foolish enough to think that making a fictional president be a guest judge on a televised singing contest is a good premise for a feature film.

Mr. Weitz’s most successful film, “About a Boy,” relied on Hugh Grant playing against type. The director employs a similar approach here, but with a much shallower premise and some embarrassingly superficial political commentary.

“American Dreamz” takes on Fox’s “American Idol” with an acerbic English judge (Mr. Grant), an eager blond wannabe (Mandy Moore), and a novelty Muslim contestant (Sam Golzari). But the film adds little to this overripe premise. Mr. Grant’s Martin Tweed character may be a spot-on satire of Simon Cowell, but where are his sidekicks? The film doesn’t even bother with the bizarre duo of Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, let alone the nebbishy entity that is Ryan Seacrest.

Somehow, the satire of a talent search show in “American Dreamz” comes off as a pale imitation of the real thing. Mr. Cowell’s show didn’t become a hit because he’s not aware of how much Americans like watching people embarrass themselves. And viewers of “American Idol” are often moved by the sincere performances on that show.

But while “American Dreamz” gets an unhealthy satisfaction out of making American sweetheart Ms. Moore play a conniving bitch, neither her Sally Kendoo nor Mr. Golzari’s Omer achieve the theatrical highs that “American Idol” traffics in. And while the film is so busy skewering Sally’s vocal stylings, it leaves open the question: What exactly is the difference between Sally’s singing and the commercial albums that Ms. Moore sells in real life?

But the film isn’t just trying to lampoon “American Idol.” It has its bleary sights on the current presidential administration. Mr. Weitz’s fictional president is a moron with a drawl. (Really. Does that joke ever get old?) President Staton (Dennis Quaid) and his charmingly beleaguered wife (Marcia Gay Harden) are being manipulated by the squirrelly, balding Vice President Sutter (Willem Dafoe). Luckily, when the president reads the newspaper for the first time, he realizes that the policies Sutter’s been making him advocate are actually kind of terrible.

The political satire is so tired here that it’s a wonder this film is being released in 2006. Is it really so hard for Mr. Weitz to imagine that our president believes in what he is doing? Or that perhaps some Americans voted for Mr. Bush not because they are ignorant, but because they actually agree with his political decisions?

Without the cast of bold-faced names appearing here, the film would have collapsed on itself. Most of the actors get bogged down in the stereotypes they are playing, but both Messrs. Quaid and Grant find some depth in their superficial characterizations. And small parts by Tony Yalda as Omer’s cousin and Seth Meyers as Sally’s agent bring well-earned laughs.

But Mr. Weitz wants to have it both ways, relentlessly mocking “American Idol” and Mr. Bush while trying to capitalize on their down home charm. All while having Al Qaeda operatives try to use a reality show contestant to slay the president. The result is an insulting and pandering pettiness.

When George Clooney praised himself and the Hollywood community for being “out of touch” in his Oscar speech this year, he clearly didn’t have Mr. Weitz’s sort of detachment in mind. When Mr. Grant’s character realizes that “one really can become quite detached from reality when one becomes famous,” it seems like the film would like the audience to wistfully respond, as Ms. Moore does: “That’s so cool.”

Mr. Weitz has made some fine films. But trying to pass off his political misunderstanding as a boon is unforgivable. As is forcing a movie reviewer to defend “American Idol.”

mkeane@nysun.com