The movie examines the role of dreams and ambitions in American culture. It's about what's wrong with America and how close it is to what's right with America.

266

I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I genuinely believe people in the administration went to war in Iraq for a dream, to create a liberal democracy in the Middle East, the only problem being it's a little more difficult than that.

264

I think that comedy can act like an anesthetic, so you can talk about relatively painful things and have it be palatable.

196

If someone really wanted a scathing parody of the administration, they're probably going to be disappointed, because the movie has a fantasy element of that character being awakened. He doesn't magically become extremely intelligent, but he does start trying to come to terms with the real world.

184

When you're making a comedy about really serious issues, you're kind of in the position of being an idiot savant. You're using the vocabulary of broad comedy to talk about what's most important. And I don't have a Michael Moore-like urge to offend people or get people angry at me. If anything, that idea stresses me out.

99

I would start my day reading the papers and feeling anxious about terrorism ... then by evening, I was watching TV and worrying about whether Constantine was going to get kicked off American Idol . I thought there was something strange about this picture.

69