Ashton's DICK Review - July 9th/99

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the resignation of President Richard Nixon. This is also the opening week of "Dick" the first film to look at the Watergate scandal with a comedic slant. Leechboy once gave me a quote which I think applies to perfectly to the film, "Tragedy plus time equals comedy." I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone decided to make a comedy about one of the worst constitutional crisis the United States has ever faced. Thankfully, "Dick" is a beautifully written film which pulls big laughs from the situation without being trite or demeaning to the historical importance of the event.

The film introduces us to two girls Betsy, and Arlene who find themselves unwittingly involved in the Watergate scandal. The girls end up being key players in the eventual resignation of President Nixon through a series of coincidences and missteps. Betsy, played by Kirsten Dunst, is the attractive dumb one. Arlene, played by Michelle Williams is the slightly less attractive slightly less dumb one. If the basic plot of Dick sounds contrived that's because it is. However this basic plot is executed very well, and the laughs in this film are the result of intelligent writing and excellent acting. One thing is for sure, I will never be able to listen to Hello Dolly again without thinking of Soviet Prime Minister Leonid Brezhnev.

All the bigger players from the Nixon Administration are on hand for this film all played by classic character actors. Harry Shearer plays G. Gordon Liddy with the perfect combination of paranoia, while Saul Rubinek, who looks nothing like Kissenger, nonetheless gives a spot on performance as Kissenger with subtle mannerisms and that classic Kissenger celebrity craving. Of course the biggest kudos must go to Dan Hedaya who portrayed Nixon not as a caricature, but as a real man embroiled in a scandal he cannot stop no matter how hard he tries. I have always liked in Hedaya in almost anything he is in, I also used to think he was a one trick pony since he was so often cast in roles similar to his Nick Tortelli character from Cheers. Dick proves that the man has incredible range as an actor Hedaya's Nixon is the best portrayal of the man Hollywood has attempted. I believed I was really watching President Nixon talking to two 15 year old girls by the end of the first scene.

Only two characters in "Dick" are played solely for laughs and funnily enough it is Woodward and Bernstein. Woodward is played by Will Ferrell of SNL fame. He is portrayed as a� self-absorbed jerk who is only interested in furthering his career off the Watergate scandal.� Bruce McCulloch from The Kids in The Hall plays Bernstein as a no-talent hanger on who desperately attaches himself to Woodward's coat-tails for a shot at the big Pulitzer roller coaster ride. Both men dislike each other intensely in this film, and it is played for excellent comic effect. This is not the Woodward and Bernstein we saw in All the President's Men, and quite frankly I enjoyed Ferrell and McCulloch's portrayal more than I did Redford and Hoffman's.

One of the most remarkable aspects of "Dick" is how well the film incorporates actual historical events surrounding the Watergate fiasco into the film to help advance the plot. All the unanswered questions of Watergate are answered in the ingenious script by Andrew Flemming. Flemming also takes the helm and directs the film with a subtle touch, His recreation of famous film clips with his actors is incredibly realistic and at the same time tinged with a dark wit and classic political satire. I have not seen any of his previous work, but I believe Flemming will be one to watch in the future.

This film will play well for most anyone who sees it, but people who have some previous knowledge of the Nixon administration and The Watergate affair will enjoy it much more. For real film/history buffs a repeat viewing of "All the President's Men" before watching "Dick" will heighten the experience tremendously. The word on the street is that "Dick" is getting killed at the box-office mainly because of all the big budget new releases which have come out in the last few weeks. This is a real shame since "Dick" is easily one of the funniest films of the year so far, and it seems that this brand of political humor is almost extinct from American Cinema.

Overall score A