Customer Reviews

Dick

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

At least his presidency resulted in this movie being made, this continues in a kind of Forrest Gump history parody type of story, it is a wonderful film for all political junkies, when this movie 1st came out, I can't recall how old I was but I casually dismissed this movie, I remember my girlfriend Susan saying we should rent this but I refused, but I know that even if I had watched it back them I could not have appreciated this because of my lack of knowledge about American history, there are a few moments where Michelle Williams gets on my nerves but I think the basic point is to make us laugh, I enjoyed this very much, if you know anything about John Dean, Kissinger and of course, good old Nixon and then the idiot Ford pardoning Nixon, you will love this movie, but I am required after bashing Nixon to point out that he did make a few good decisions, like "The Clean Air Act" of I think 71, 72, somewhere around there, and Nixon is nothing compared to the atrocities undertaken by the Bush administration, that fascist pig, both him and his dad, and his brother, oh forget it, his entire family oh, and by the way, John Dean who was good old Nixon's lawyer, the one the ratted him out, yeah, he wrote a book called "Worse than Watergate" in which he compares the Nixon administration to the Bush criminal empire of absolute fear and loathing, race for the jeebs, pure gonzo journalism, do it now, do it for whatever you want to do

Maybe it was just that this movie has a pretty small niche audience: people who know their political history, have seen "All The Presidents Men" and "Nixon," and have a wicked sense of humor. Or maybe it was the fact that it was advertised as a teen movie, because of its stars: but how many 14 year old girls do you know that meet the above requirements?

Frankly, they're not actually requirements. I saw both of the other movies long after I had seen Dick many times, and we sort of ran out of time in high school history class in the 50's so we did 1955-1997 in about three days. So it's not REQUIRED that you be a scholar of the Nixon era to enjoy this movie: but it is worth it to see at least "All the President's Men" first.

This is a brilliant, brilliant movie. Hugely underrated. The movie takes the events of Watergate and structures them around two dim-witted teenage girls ("I've known yams with more going on upstairs, sir") who accidentaly stuble onto the Watergate burglars as they sneak down to the parking garage (putting duct tape over the self-locking door latch so that they can get back in without waking up Arlene's mom) to mail a letter to "win a date with Bobby Sherman."

Through the course of the movie, all of the Watergate mysteries are explained. Whatever happened to Checkers, whatever happened to the 18 1/2 minutes, whatever happened to stop nuclear war with the Russians, why Nixon was so paranoid, and why the famous source called himself "Deep Throat." It's all here. Well written and acted, Dan Heydaya is maybe the best Nixon ever to hit the screen.

"You smell like cabbage!"

"Dick" is a historically inaccurate comedy about two giggly highschool girls, Kirsten Dunst (Betsy) and Michelle Williams (Arlene) who get involved in Nixon's Watergate coverup and ultimate resignation. "Yams have more going on upstairs than those two girls."

If you love the memory of President Nixon, you might not like this movie as he is portrayed in a negative comical light. If you don't know much about the Watergate coverup, much of the movie won't make sense. If this is the case, you should watch "All The President's Men" first.

In a very small nutshell, the girls surprise G. Gordon Liddy in a stairwell as he is talking the the Watergate "Plumbers". Later on a field trip to the White House, they see him again with a paper stuck to his shoe - the CREEP list with dollar amounts next to names - that they keep as a souvenir. Haldeman (Dave Foley) questions them, then the girls play with Checkers, Nixon's dog. Nixon (Dan Hedaya) offers to make them official dog walkers. Later, they decide to bake some "Hello Dolly" cookies for Nixon, and unknowingly use a special ingredient that Betsy's druggy brother had mixed in with the walnuts.

In the back story, we find out that Arlene misses her father who died in an accident before she was born.

The girls return to White House without an invitation and get hassled but finally get in with the help of Henry Kissinger (Saul Rubinek). They see Nixon, and give him cookies, and Nixon tapes their conversation. They take Checkers for a walk, and when the return, see document shredding and money.

In school, Betsy and Arlen give speeches about White House visit. Arlene gets dreamy about the president and replaces Bobby Sherman's posters with Nixon on her bedroom wall.

Back at the White House, Nixon meets with Brezhnev, and Nixon shares cookies with him. They end up singing "Hello Dolly".

Arlene faling in love with Nixon. In a fantasy sequense, Nixon rides a horse on the beach, then "twirls" with Arlene, and they look at a White House sand castle. Arlene starts Nixon scrap book.

The girls recognize Liddy on the TV news. Alene calls Nixon while he is watching "Love, American Style" when Arlene calls him to ask about "that Wategate thing".

The girls return to walk Checkers, and discover the taping system in secretary Rosemary Woods desk. They tape a message for Nixon. Arlene confesses her love for him. They hear some tape of Nixon cursing, and yelling at Checkers, and they are disappointed. They confront Nixon about Watergate. Arlene removes his pictures and burns them.

They talk to reporters Woodward and Bernstein on the phone then agree to meet them in person. Subsequently, they are harassed by a "Plumbers" van. They go to Haldeman's house to get tapes Haldeman took home. Arlene overhears an incriminating phone call between Haldeman and the White House. They steal a tape and give the transcript to Woodward and Bernstein.

Nixon is drinking and listening to his tapes, and hears Arlene's singing "I Honestly Love You" and love confession. Nixon erases 18-1/2 minutes of the tape.

Girls see Nixon on department store TVs as he resigns. They hold up a nasty banner and wave goodbye to him as he helicopters away. He gives them the finger.

The DVD has a commentary by director/co-writers, a short "Making of" documentary, one deleted scene (an Arlene- and-Nixon beach nightmare), a blooper reel that is really funny, trailers to this and 2 other movies, text talent files, and an isolated score/soundtrack of really groovy 70's songs. If the cultural references (Kung Fu and Alka-Seltzer commercials, etc) don't get you, maybe the day-glow clothes will.

Richard Nixon is my idol in life. I have been studying the age of Nixon for 4 years so I forced myself to watch this film. It's sad that we have to make a mockery of one of the greatest Presidents in history. This President ended a terrible war in Indochina that his administration didn't start, opened U.S. relations with China, and achieved peace with the USSR in the Soviet Limitations Arms treaty during the Cold War, just to name a few accomplishments. The Watergate cover-up was an attempt to protect the American people from a mistake but unfortunately failed. Also, this film was inaccurate in its portrayal of Nixon and his wife Pat. Nixon cherished nothing in this world besides Pat, not like our current President. Why won't these two girls make a sequel called "Bill". Since they would be older, they could become presidential secretaries that would perform "favors" for the Bill like his infamous intern. They could help Ken Starr with his case. Just a thought - Make fun of a president who deserves it. It's extremely trite to make fun of Richard Nixon.

If you can get around the historical inaccuracy (such as the tape recording machine not being voice activated like the real one) of much of the film, you can enjoy a good laugh from 'Dick.' What I liked most about the film was that it wasn't really an anti-Nixon film (although they do make fun of Nixon)but it made fun of all the participants involved in America's most famous and odd political scandal. Kissinger, Liddy, Rose Mary Wood, Haldeman, Dean, and even Woodward and Bernstein are fair game!

Alas! We could not see the (video-only) release "Dick" in Japan until the spring of 2004 because the subject matter is not familiar to us. "Dick," as many have said, parodies everything about Watergate scandal, using a good idea -- what if two airhead high school students are really the still unknown source of two Washington Post writers, that is, "The Deep Throat"? And how come a certain portion of the tape has been erased? Well, watch this and be surprised!

Kirsten Dunst and Michell Williams show great comic talent here as two high school students who stumble on the secrets of the White House without knowing it. To hush-up the embarrasing secrets, President Nixon (call me "Dick," as Dan Hedaya goes) appoints them as the official dog walker of the White House after the five guys were arrested for breaking into Watergate, which only leads to more complications.

The comedy is funny especially when you remember how the scandal went on, and the original idea is brilliant. But the film streches it beyond its limits, and the second half is a rather disappointing fare. And some people would hate its ending, which should be alterd for a better one. After all, the parody should be made about the object, which should be treated with a certain feeling of respect or affection. (Do American people still hate him?)

There are good supports all around -- see the two hilarious turns from "Bob" and "Carl" -- but the film belongs to the two leading ladies. If you're their fans, do not miss.

I read some of the other reviews before watching this DVD,and I agree that the film is quite funny and well-acted. The amusement died towards the end, however. The two girls start out as very innocent and sweet; as they become involved in the Watergate scandal, they "grow up" a bit and become more cynical, nasty. I know this isn't a serious film, but it just made me sad. The drug-related humor (I suppose some would find it humorous) was not amusing to me, nor was the overt exploitation of the girls' sexuality. The last few scenes were just wrong for the film. Too bad... This film should be rated R--it's definitely an adult comedy.

"Dick" is one of the funniest, smartest movies I've ever seen.

I came to this movie for two reasons: I'm fond of political satire, and I'm a huge Kids In The Hall fan- alums Dave Foley and Bruce McCulloch are both in the cast, as Bob Haldeman and Carl Bernstein, respectively. I didn't really have high expectations for it, but was incredibly surprised at how clever and accessible the movie is. As other reviewers have mentioned, it's hard to know who "Dick" is marketed towards- wouldn't pre/early teen fans of Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams be put off at the constant barrage of '70's references? And would Watergate/political aficionados be caught dead watching something as seemingly silly as this?

Well, I think anyone can enjoy this, although if you have no knowledge of Watergate, you might want to find out a few basic facts before watching- even so, "Dick" doesn't demand much from its audience. You don't even have to be a Nixon-hater to enjoy it, as I think Tricky Dick comes off as less of a monster and more the flawed human he was- one of the funniest situations in the movie is when Arlene (Michelle Williams) falls head over heels in love with Nixon, dreaming about them riding a horse along the beach!

Dunst and Williams are great as 15-year olds Betsy and Arlene, and Dan Hedaya is perfect as Nixon. Other standouts include Jim Breuer as White House counsel John Dean (a glorified cameo really, but very memorable), and of course Will Ferrell as Bob Woodward- this is the best I've ever seen Ferrell in a film role.

In short, a hilarious movie that can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of age or political leanings.

I wasn't born when the whole Watergate scandal happened, so all I know of it is what is taught in school (not much).

The movie has a lot of references to the 70's that some people, mostly those born in the late 80's, early 90's may not get. Makes those of us who do get them feel pretty old. :c)

Woodward and Bernstein are hilarious! Two professional reporters arguing over who's going to do the talking.

If you do remember Watergate or have studied it, take this movie with a grain of salt. It's meant to be a silly mockery of the whole incident.

Honestly, comedy and Watergate fits together like drinking and driving. This movie somehow manages to combine those two things in a way thats quite entertaining.
Kirsten Dunst (quite good) and Michelle Williams play two 15-year-olds who stumble into the Watergate scandal. This is bareley believable, but good for a few good laughs.
"Dick" is mainly watchable because of the superb performances of Dan Hedaya (as Richard Nixon) and -even better- Saul Rubinek (as Henry Kissinger).
If you need something more serious about Watergate, go and see ALL THE PRESIDENT`S MEN, which is more realistic, but not as funny :-)