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Dick (film)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Dick
| image = Theatricalposterdick.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Andrew Fleming
| producer = Gale Anne Hurd
| writer = Andrew Fleming
Sheryl Longin
| starring =
| music = John Debney
| cinematography = Alexander Gruszynski
| editing = Mia Goldman
| studio =
| distributor = Sony Pictures Releasing
| released =
| runtime = 94 minutes
| country =
| language = English
| budget = $13 million
| gross = $6.3 million (US)
}}
'Dick' is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Andrew Fleming from a script he wrote with Sheryl Longin. It is a comic reimagining of the Watergate scandal which ended the presidency of Richard ("Tricky Dick") Nixon and features several cast members from 'Saturday Night Live' and 'The Kids in the Hall'.
Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams star as Betsy and Arlene, two warm-hearted but unworldly 15-year-old girls who are best friends, and who, through various arbitrary circumstances, become the legendary "Deep Throat" figure partly responsible for bringing down Nixon's presidency. Dan Hedaya plays Nixon. At the time of the movie's release, the identity of the real Deep Throat was not yet public knowledge; in 2005, former FBI agent Mark Felt revealed that he was Deep Throat.
Plot
Betsy Jobs and Arlene Lorenzo are two sweet-natured but ditzy teenagers living in Washington D.C. in 1972. Betsy comes from a wealthy Georgetown family, while Arlene lives with her widowed mother in an apartment in the Watergate building.
One night, the girls sneak out of Arlene's to mail a letter to enter a contest to win a date with teen idol singer Bobby Sherman, at the same time as the Watergate break-in. They sneak through the parking garage by taping the latch of a door, accidentally causing the break-in to be discovered. Seen by G. Gordon Liddy, he believes they are committing a jewel robbery, so they panic and run. The security guard is startled by the taped door, calls the police, who immediately arrest the burglars.
The next day, at the White House on a school tour, they happen across Liddy again. They don't recognize him, but he recognizes them and becomes suspicious. He points them out to H. R. Haldeman, who interrogates them; their conversation (revealing the girls don't think about the President much) is interrupted by a phone call from his wife, and then by President Nixon himself, who takes Haldeman aside to complain about the bugging operation being fouled up.
The girls are awestruck at being in the same room as Nixonbut more so at being able to play with his dog, which gives him an idea. To keep their silence, he appoints them his official dog-walkerswhich means they must be admitted repeatedly to the White House. On these visits they accidentally influence major events such as the Vietnam peace process and the Nixon–Brezhnev accord, by bringing along cookies that they have inadvertently baked marijuana into. (Later, when Betsy's brother, Larry, reveals the cookies' "secret ingredient" and hears the President ate them, he concludes that this explains Nixon's paranoia.) They become familiar with the Nixon administration's key players, including Henry Kissinger, and accidentally learn the major secrets of the Watergate scandal.
Arlene, previously infatuated with Bobby Sherman, now falls equally hard for the president. Just after reading an -minute message of love into his tape recorder, she plays back another part of the tape, hears his coarse, brutal rantings, and realizes his true nature. When they confront Nixon, he fires and threatens them.
They now reevaluate what they have learned and decide to reveal everything to the "radical muckraking bastards" (Nixon's words) at 'the Washington Post', Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. So they become informants: two 15-year-old girls are the true identity of the famous Deep Throat (Betsy's brother had just been caught watching the film of the same name). Woodward and Bernsteinportrayed as petty, childish, and incompetentare naturally skeptical of the two girls. To make matters worse, their only piece of physical evidence, a list of names of those involved from the Committee to Re-Elect the President, is eaten by Betsy's dog.
Nixon's men realize the girls are a real threat and attempt tactics such as bugging and undercover agents to find out what they know, going so far as to break into Betsy's house and plant an agent as Arlene's mother's boyfriend. Eventually pushed to the limit after being chased by the Watergate "plumbers", they decide to take action.
Sneaking into Haldeman's house, the girls find and take a crucial tape recording. They give a transcription of it to Woodward and Bernstein (keeping the tape as a "souvenir") thus ending Nixon's political career. Nixon finds Arlene's message on his tape and erases it, reasoning that he'd be "crucified" if it was perceived that he had an affair with a 15-year-old girl. After his resignation, as his helicopter flies over Betsy's house, the girls hold up a sign with the phrase "You suck, Dick", further angering the now ex-president.
Cast
* Kirsten Dunst as Betsy Jobs
* Michelle Williams as Arlene Lorenzo
* Dan Hedaya as President Richard "Dick" Nixon
* Bruce McCulloch as Carl Bernstein
* Will Ferrell as Bob Woodward
* Saul Rubinek as Henry Kissinger
* Teri Garr as Helen Lorenzo
* Dave Foley as H. R. Haldeman
* Harry Shearer as G. Gordon Liddy
* Ted McGinley as Roderick
* Karl Pruner as Frank Jobs
* Devon Gummersall as Larry Jobs
* Jim Breuer as John Dean
* G. D. Spradlin as Ben Bradlee
* Ryan Reynolds as Chip
* French Stewart as The Interviewer
* Ana Gasteyer as Rose Mary Woods
Production
Writers Andrew Fleming and Sheryl Longin attempted to write several different scripts with teenage girls as protagonists. The idea of using the Watergate scandal came from a real-life experience Longin had with Nixon when her family stayed at the same hotel as Nixon. As a child, she and a friend pelted Nixon with ice cubes, causing a minor disturbance. Fleming said that he was surprised at the attempts to rehabilitate Nixon's image, and Longin cited the Watergate scandal as a defining political moment for their generation. She said she channeled the resulting anger and cynicism into the script. Several people told the duo that various gags went too far. Fleming, who believed Nixon got off easily, said they fought to keep everything. They approached Ben Bradlee and John Dean to play themselves, but both declined.
Release
Sony's marketing research indicated teenage girls were the film's biggest demographic, so promotional material focused on Dunst and Williams instead of the political aspects. 'Dick' was released in the US on August 4, 1999. It grossed $2.2 million in its opening weekend, opening at No. 12 in 1522 theaters. It went on to gross $6.3 million in the US.
Home media
On December 14, 1999, 'Dick' was released on VHS and DVD by Columbia TriStar Home Video. Eighteen years later, on November 6, 2018, it was released on Blu-rayBlu-ray release*
by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, 'Dick' has a 71% approval rating based on 73 reviews, with an average score of 6.36/10 and the consensus: "A clever, funny slice of alternate history, 'Dick' farcically re-imagines the Watergate era and largely succeeds, thanks to quirky, winning performances from Michelle Williams, Kirsten Dunst and Will Ferrell." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics.
Leonard Maltin gave the film three stars, calling it a "clever cross of 'Clueless' and 'All the Presidents Men'".Maltin, Leonard, 'Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'. New York: Signet Books, 2009. . p.356 Todd McCarthy, in his review for 'Variety', called it an "audacious, imaginative political comedy" that will appeal more to adults than teenagers. Stephen Holden of 'The New York Times' described it as "an uproariously dizzy satire" that was inspired by the Lewinsky scandal. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas said the film "is so sharp and funny it should appeal to all ages". Rita Kempley of 'The Washington Post' described it as "more fun than you ever thought you'd have with Richard Nixon". The film's acting received critical commentary. Thomas positively compared Hedaya's performance to Anthony Hopkins in 'Nixon', and Kempley called Hedaya "no less adept" than Hopkins. Holden wrote that Hedaya's portrayal of Nixon is "the year's funniest film caricature". Thomas called Dunst and Williams "a constant delight".
Awards
Soundtrack
All fifteen compositions are Top 40 hit songs from the 1970s, but two weren't recorded until after the Watergate scandal had ended.[https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1999-12-10-9912080578-story.html Hettrick, Scott. "See Dick Run On and On About the Watergate Era," 'Los Angeles Times', Friday, December 10, 1999.] Retrieved August 5, 2020 They are "Lady Marmalade" and "Dancing Queen" which were released three months and two years later respectively. Sixpence None the Richer's cover version of the latter song is the album's opening track and the only one recorded for the movie.
Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" had been considered for use in the film, but the politically conservative Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille did not appreciate the movie's irreverence and denied the rights to their cover. Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills and Far Away" was originally intended to accompany the closing scene, but Fleming eventually realized Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" was a better fit and used it instead.[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dick-andrew-fleming_n_5698264 Jacobs, Matthew. "9 Things You Really Never Knew About 'Dick'," 'HuffPost', August 27, 2014.] Retrieved August 5, 2020
;Soundtrack album listing
Notes
References
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