‘Dreamers’ a Hazy Barrage of Sound Bites

If the concept of the American dream seems to be flimsier than ever for many people, it may vanish like mist after watching TNT’s curious 90-minute spectacle “American Dreamers.” Seldom has so much filmmaking style been expended on so little, and seldom has a national ideal been made to seem lighter than air.

As if making her film underwater, producer-director Linda Schaffer wades toward interesting connections between the dream-making machinery of Hollywood and the dreams Americans foster, only to have them slip out of her grasp.

Cramming more than a dozen eclectic personalities--from former Ronald Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan to Mel Brooks--plus clips from no less than 48 Hollywood movies, plus countless archive film clips, plus everyday people into compact screen time is never a good idea. Here, it’s downright destructive.

Separate segments are devoted to such vague themes as “making it” and “the white picket fence,” and the resulting flurry of sound bites Schaffer patches together are, naturally, vague. It is wonderful to hear, for example, that architect Philip Johnson thinks that immortality is more important than fame or that comedian Brett Butler wanted to be funny and unique first, with fame as a side effect. But they’re simply momentary impressions that lead nowhere.

Besides, Schaffer must rush on to the next flurry of sound bites, lest we pause to consider what we’re being shown. This senselessly breathless juggernaut of trite truisms about the American dream runs roughshod over what could have been real debates between the personalities.

Tellingly, when Schaffer rarely slows down to consider the meaning of American fulfillment, heroism and opportunity through the eyes of individuals, we can see the kind of film “American Dreamers” could have been. Vietnam veteran and protester Ron Kovic’s powerful story of pain, disillusionment and renewed hope offers us a coherent take on the American dream that resonates. And when Schaffer intercuts his story, or Jim Lovell’s in “Apollo 13,” or Crystal Lee Sutton’s in “Norma Rae,” with the films based on their lives, she delivers a powerful conversation between the movies and the dreaming nation.

Eventually, though, the quickie sound bites gnaw the good conversation to shreds.

* “American Dreamers” airs Sunday at 5, 6:30 and 8 p.m. on TNT.