What if it turned out the central figures in uncovering the Watergate scandal were a pair of ditzy teenage girls? Is that so outlandish? Well, yes, I suppose it is. But that's what makes it so funny. This movie fills in the gaps in history (including that famous 18½-minute gap) with lots and lots of laughs. The story is implausible and impossible, a series of contrivances one piled on top of another. But in this bizarre alternate universe, one in which the fate of the free world rests in the hands of a pair of dumb blondes, the story works. The movie is funny, charming and thoroughly enjoyable.
Our two ditzes are Betsy and Arlene, played by Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams respectively. They really are a couple of airheads. Arlene is meant to be the more serious-minded of the two. You can tell this because she wears glasses. That's always the way it works in movies, right? Betsy meanwhile is totally out there, a 1970s hippie chick floating on the breeze without a care in the world. Quite by accident Betsy and Arlene lead to the discovery of the Watergate break-in. They're oblivious to this of course. They're oblivious to pretty much everything. But when G. Gordon Liddy, who saw the girls at the Watergate, sees them again as they take a White House tour he's afraid they might know something. Soon the girls are meeting President Nixon himself and they find themselves appointed official White House dog-walkers so that the administration can keep an eye on them. But they end up seeing more things they shouldn't see and hearing more things they shouldn't hear. And ultimately they bring down a presidency. All along the way the laughs come fast and furious.
Dumb though they are it's impossible not to love Betsy and Arlene. Dunst is terrific with her portrayal of the bubbly, flighty, relentlessly charming Betsy. Arlene is slightly more grounded than Betsy (everything's relative) so Williams doesn't have as showy a part to play as Dunst does. But she's very good too. All the supporting players are spot-on as they bring real-life Watergate figures to comedic life. Dan Hedaya's a great, funny Nixon. Dave Foley, Jim Breuer, Harry Shearer and Saul Rubinek all capture their respective White House figures well. And famous Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein are rather hilariously portrayed as bumbling, bickering fools by Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch. The more you know about the actual Watergate scandal the more you'll probably appreciate the movie. It definitely helps the movie along if you understand all the sly, subtle references to the real events. But even if you know nothing about Watergate at all the movie still has plenty to offer. Not all the jokes require encyclopedic knowledge of 1970s politics. For example when Nixon invites the girls to call him Dick you just know that's setting up for some cheap, easy, lowbrow jokes later on. But cheap and obvious as they are when those jokes do inevitably come they're still funny. This movie manages to make pretty much anything and everything funny. Dick is an enjoyable nostalgia trip back to the far-out '70s, complete with a totally groovy soundtrack. Who knew Watergate could be so funny and charming?
Our two ditzes are Betsy and Arlene, played by Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams respectively. They really are a couple of airheads. Arlene is meant to be the more serious-minded of the two. You can tell this because she wears glasses. That's always the way it works in movies, right? Betsy meanwhile is totally out there, a 1970s hippie chick floating on the breeze without a care in the world. Quite by accident Betsy and Arlene lead to the discovery of the Watergate break-in. They're oblivious to this of course. They're oblivious to pretty much everything. But when G. Gordon Liddy, who saw the girls at the Watergate, sees them again as they take a White House tour he's afraid they might know something. Soon the girls are meeting President Nixon himself and they find themselves appointed official White House dog-walkers so that the administration can keep an eye on them. But they end up seeing more things they shouldn't see and hearing more things they shouldn't hear. And ultimately they bring down a presidency. All along the way the laughs come fast and furious.
Dumb though they are it's impossible not to love Betsy and Arlene. Dunst is terrific with her portrayal of the bubbly, flighty, relentlessly charming Betsy. Arlene is slightly more grounded than Betsy (everything's relative) so Williams doesn't have as showy a part to play as Dunst does. But she's very good too. All the supporting players are spot-on as they bring real-life Watergate figures to comedic life. Dan Hedaya's a great, funny Nixon. Dave Foley, Jim Breuer, Harry Shearer and Saul Rubinek all capture their respective White House figures well. And famous Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein are rather hilariously portrayed as bumbling, bickering fools by Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch. The more you know about the actual Watergate scandal the more you'll probably appreciate the movie. It definitely helps the movie along if you understand all the sly, subtle references to the real events. But even if you know nothing about Watergate at all the movie still has plenty to offer. Not all the jokes require encyclopedic knowledge of 1970s politics. For example when Nixon invites the girls to call him Dick you just know that's setting up for some cheap, easy, lowbrow jokes later on. But cheap and obvious as they are when those jokes do inevitably come they're still funny. This movie manages to make pretty much anything and everything funny. Dick is an enjoyable nostalgia trip back to the far-out '70s, complete with a totally groovy soundtrack. Who knew Watergate could be so funny and charming?