Movies

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.

... for anyone old enough to have seen the Watergate hearings on television the first time around, or who still remembers people telling Bebe Rebozo jokes.I have no idea how anyone under 35 would react, there were so few at the theatre.Dave Foley's H.R. Haldeman haircut had me in stitches. You see his scalp; what an unexpected trip down memory lane.Saul Rubinek was a hoot as Henry Kissinger, although he couldn't quite compare to Paul Sorvino, uncanny in that part in "Nixon".Everyone's character seemed right on. Exaggerated of course, naturally. Even the two halves of Woodstein, a nice bit of caricature.The two young girls -- Dunst and Williams -- are stellar. The girls' final action of the movie seemed out of character to me, but that struck the only false note I heard in this funny film.

"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