Dick (1999)

Just perfect...

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

"Dick", aside from the inherent laugh value in its title (it's okay, you can admit it) puts an delightful spin on history, suggesting that Deep Throat was actually just two ditzy blondes who got really lucky. Even ten years after we all heard who the mystery informant really was, that's still funny. This whole thing feels like a counterpoint to "All the President's Men", right down to the opening shot (and its explanation for the 18-minute gap in the Nixon tapes was pretty clever).But this is one hell of a cast (jeez, everyone is in this flick), and the chemistry between Williams and Dunst forms the bubbly and likable core of the movie. If the jokes aren't doing it for you, I guarantee you'll like the Ferrell and McCullough take on Woodward and Bernstein. Not to mention pretty much all of Nixon's staff.7/10

Betsy Jobs (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlene Lorenzo (Michelle Williams) are bubbly giggly 15 year old bffs. Betsy lives in the Watergate apartments, and one night, the girls cause the cops to catch the break-in. They keep being in the right place at the right time to cause all kinds of problems for Nixon (Dan Hedaya). When they come to the White House tour, everybody assumes they're clueless, and Nixon decides to keep them as the official White House dog walkers.I love the political spoof. When this starts with Woodward (Will Ferrell) and Bernstein (Bruce McCulloch) fighting on TV, it signals everything about the movie. All the political personalities are brilliantly played. Kirsten and Michelle are just wonderful. Their cluelessness is hilarious.

The "Dick" refers to Richard Nixon of course! What did you think it meant? With a fantastic cast including: Michelle Williams, Kirsten Dunst (both absolutely adorable as Arlene and Betsy), and Will Ferrell (as Bob Woodward). With Terri Garr. It plays like an overlong SNL sketch, because SNL was involved in the production. It "explains" the entire Watergate scandal and so much more. Of course it's all tongue-in-cheek.Two 15-year-old teenage girls mail a fan letter to Bobby Sherman, late at night, and unwittingly run into G. Gordon Liddy which ultimately sends the police dashing to uncover the Watergate break-in. When they go to the White House (school tour), Liddy recognizes them, ("they have the I-Q of yams") and Nixon himself asks the two girls to become the "official White House dog-walkers" for Checkers, to keep tabs on them. Her teacher refuses to believe this and says, more or less, that they both will go to Hell for telling such lies, but it's all true! Then they give all the details to two bumbling Washington Post reporters, including Nixon's staff shredding documents and packing bribe money for the people on the "Creep" list. All the major players, including Kissinger, are portrayed as either hotheads or complete idiots. Dan Hedaya, as Nixon, is devilishly funny and even looks like him. Even "Checkers" hates Nixon! There is 18.5 minutes missing on that infamous Nixon tape because Arlene sings "I honestly Love You" to "Tricky Dick", and then "Dick" erases it. The Russian Peace Accord went so well because the girls unwittingly baked up a batch of pot-laced "Hello Dolly" cookies which mellowed out everyone, including Brezhnev. The girls steal copies of the other White House tapes by sneaking into Haldeman's house. They use the cover name "Deep Throat" because Betsy's older brother Larry is into porn. For a full synopsis, go to "Roger Ebert.com". Marked down slightly for Nixon's anti-Semitic ranting and raving, and an F-bomb, which will certainly be cut for network and cable. A minor play-on-words as the girls blurt out comments about "Dick" at both a roller rink and the Washington Mall. The girls make American Flag hot pants outfits, and wave a banner at Dick as his helicopter flies over The Watergate and Washington for the very last time. The banner reads: "You Suck, Dick"! You will love the"1970's" musical soundtrack and costumes. It's a funny and clever satire and well worth your time, especially if you are over 35. This did not do well at the box office, due to its peculiar title. (BTW: That "blur" near the backside of "Arlene" is to mask a big "tramp- stamp" near her bottom.) Also, did anyone notice that part of "Checkers the dog" is not played by a cocker spaniel?

I don't understand how you can go through the time, effort and expense to make a motion picture and forget that a comedy needs jokes. It's like making an action flick where no one gets punched or a musical where no one sings or a tragedy where no one cries. Dick certainly has a humorous tone and some potentially funny premises but when it comes to honest-to-goodness jokes, there are very few here and most of them don't show up until the film is half over.Betsy and Arlene (Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams) are a couple of 15 year old girls who get caught up in the intrigue of the 1972 Nixon White House. At first, they just walk the President's dog and Arlene develops a school girl crush on Tricky Dick (Dan Hedaya). When they inadvertently discover Nixon's dark side, the girls turn into Deep Throat, the inside source that fed Woodward and Bernstein (Will Farrell and Bruce McCulloch) information on the Watergate cover up.Aside from a weirdly large number of double entendres about Nixon's first name and Ferrell and McCulloch firing off bits of shtick every moment they're on screen like they were signaling for someone to come and rescue them from this desert island of comedy, there's very little to laugh about in Dick. That's not the fault of the cast, though there are a few times when they give performances that could have been acceptable in a docu-drama. These actors are just not given enough to work with. For example, there's a scene where Arlene has a romantic fantasy about Nixon sweeping her off her feet. The idea provokes a snicker but it never goes anywhere or leads to anything. Instead of ending on a big laugh, the dream sequence merely trickles away. Or when Betsy and Arlene realize the truth about Nixon after hearing an audio tape of him ranting and cussing and kicking his dog, the scene ends with Betsy saying "I don't think the President of the United States should be recording conversations like that". The people who made Dick consider THAT to be a big punchline.Dunst and Willams are bright and bubbly but, as promising as this concept seems, it's a big, fat nothing burger of a film. Unless you're a hard core Nixon hater who can never get enough of seeing him mocked, you won't enjoy this Dick.