by Karyn L. Beach

I read a survey a while back that asked which political group would throw the better party. Regardless of their politics, people decided when it came to getting their party on, they wanted to hang out with the liberals. Let's face it, they're just more fun! The minority of people who prefer a conservative shin-dig might like An American Carol but I doubt it.

Filmmaker Michael Malone (Kevin Farley) is a liberal documentarian a la Michael Moore, who makes anti-American movies. He's pro-Cuba, anti-war and so liberal that he's out to abolish The Fourth of July - all the while wanting to make his first feature film, a drama called Fascist America. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, a group of jihadists (Robert Davi, Geoffrey Arend, Serdar Kalsin) decide to bankroll Moore's film in order to get them the much-needed media access they'll need in an effort to pull off a massive attack in New York City.

But it's called An American Carol for a reason. It's based on A Christmas Carol and like that Dicken's classic, Malone is visited by his favorite president, John F. Kennedy (Chriss Anglin) and told that he will be visited by three ghost. There is General George S. Patton (Kelsey Grammar) who is there to remind Malone that war is sometimes necessary. After all, if there had been no Civil War, Malone would probably own slaves today. Then there is the ghost of George Washington (Jon Voight), who like Patton is another ghost of history's past. Finally there is country star and former Celebrity Apprentice Trace Adkins as the ghost of death.

Satires only work when they observations are sharp and the writing is even sharper. An American Carol is dull on both parts. Cameos from FOX News host Bill O'Reilly, Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart, Gary Coleman and Paris Hilton didn't help. Never did 83 minutes seem so long. Many of the jokes were stale. After the first time, a slap upside the head stops being funny. The same can be said of fat jokes. At times, the script seemed more concerned with giving us a history lesson than a funny movie.

A couple of bright spots stopped it from being a complete dud. There is a funny musical number where all the college teachers sing about their love of 1968 and their efforts to indoctrine college kids with their liberal agenda. There is also a pretty funny scene where Malone and Rosie O'Connell (Vicki Browne) appear on Bill O'Reilly's show and O'Connell makes Malone look almost conservative by comparison. Her plug for her film Radical Christianity was very funny.

But two scenes do not a good movie make. Two scenes aren't even enough for an average movie recommendation. If you want political satire watch Saturday Night Live or better yet, C-SPAN.