Dick (1999)

Director:

Andrew Fleming

Writers (WGA):

Andrew Fleming (written by) &
Sheryl Longin (written by)

Release Date:

4 August 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

He was tricky. They were better.

Plot:

Story of two girls who wander away from a White House tour and meet President Nixon.

Plot Keywords:

White House | Dog | Watergate | President | Richard Nixon

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Kirsten Dunst	...	Betsy Jobs
Michelle Williams	...	Arlene Lorenzo
Dan Hedaya	...	President Richard M. Nixon
Will Ferrell	...	Bob Woodward
Bruce McCulloch	...	Carl Bernstein
Teri Garr	...	Helen Lorenzo
Dave Foley	...	Bob Haldeman
Jim Breuer	...	John Dean
Ana Gasteyer	...	Rose Mary Woods
Harry Shearer	...	G. Gordon Liddy
Saul Rubinek	...	Henry Kissinger
Devon Gummersall	...	Larry Jobs
Ted McGinley	...	Roderick
Ryan Reynolds	...	Chip
G.D. Spradlin	...	Ben Bradlee

Also Known As:

Dick, les coulisses de la présidence (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor, drug content and language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France | Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #36541) | Finland:K-3 | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:6 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Lawrence Park C.I., Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels

Trivia:

G.D. Spradlin's last film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although the movie is set in 1972-73, Betsy's family is seen driving in a 1975 model Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon.

Quotes:

Dick: Checkers - shut up. Or I'll feed you to the Chinese.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (1999-08-07)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Coconut

Easily one of the two or three best comedies of '99

Dick is so unbelievably funny. It's one of those movies that gets funnier with repeated viewing, kinda like Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (doesn't hurt that it has two former Hall cast members). And what a cast it has. Lets take a look, we got the SNL crew (Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Jim Breuer), the Hall boys (Bruce McCulloch, Dave Foley), Simpsons voice Harry Shearer, and two cute as a button up and coming young actresses (Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams). But the big surprises for me were Hedaya and Rubinek, who would gave the most subtle, brilliant performances, and some of the biggest laughs. Rubinek, for example, only had a handful of lines in the film as Kissenger, but they're the ones that stuck with me. Little things like, "I'm familiar with these girls. Don't you look at me that way!" and "Yes, I know what nyet, nyet means". And Hedaya's evil Nixon was just hysterical, probably the most perfect comedic bad guy since Dr. Evil. How can you not love a villain with lines like, "Checkers--shut up! Or I'll feed you to the Chinese!". These guys had me in hysterics.

This from the writer/director of The Craft? Talk about a step in the right direction! But I could probably tell you without checking that The Craft made more money at the box office, sadly. But the centre of the film is Dunst and Williams, and if they weren't so incredibly good as the two air heads, the movie probably wouldn't have worked, despite the best efforts of the talented cast. Foley says it best, "I have met yams with more going on upstairs than these two." The movie keeps sneaking up on you with these quite, brilliant little lines, like the girls walking down a hallway, "I think it was left.", "That's because you couldn't turn right". Not to mention a terrific 70's soundtrack, and I don't even like music from that era (Nixon walking off to "You're so Vain" was the greatest!) Okay, I've said enough. Did I mention I liked this movie? See this movie. I'm Canadian, I don't understand exactly what Watergate was about (despite having seen Oliver Stone's Nixon twice), and I was just learning to walk when Nixon was forced out of office so I didn't recognize many of the names thrown around, but I loved it all the same and was able to get all of the jokes. 9/10 stars. G'night!