August 4, 1999
Web posted at: 1:59 p.m. EDT (1759 GMT)

By Reviewer Paul Clinton

(CNN) -- Nearly 25 years ago, the biggest political scandal in decades rocked Washington. Unlike the recent White House troubles involving Monica Lewinsky, Watergate did bring down an Oval Office occupant, Richard Nixon.

Now Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams star in a funny comedy about that era. The title, "Dick," is a reference to Nixon's nickname, "Tricky Dick."

Unfortunately, if you don't remember Watergate -- and all the mysterious figures involved, the double dealings, the stories in The Washington Post, and the drama and paranoia at the White House -- you won't get "Dick."

Dunst, who can also be seen in "Drop Dead Gorgeous," plays a ditsy teen-ager named Betsy Jobs. Williams, known mainly for her role in TV's "Dawson's Creek," plays Betsy's best friend Arlene Lorenzo. They're both blonde. One of the girls lives at the Watergate complex in Washington and unwittingly they stumble across the infamous break-in at the Democratic headquarters.

Later, during a tour of the White House, they get lost and mistakenly walk into a room in which staffers are packing bribe money and making up lists of other people who'll need hush money to cover up the misdeeds of the Committee to Re-Elect the President -- otherwise known as CREP.

Afraid they'll put two and two together, Nixon, played seamlessly by Dan Hedaya, offers to make the two girls his official White House walkers for his dog Checkers -- another character you just won't know if you're too young to remember the events involved.

He hopes this ploy will not only keep the girls under his watchful eye, but also keep them quiet. Doesn't work. If it did, we'd have no movie.

Of course, all the President's men are unable to stop the two bumbling truth-seekers from working with Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Will Ferrell) and Carl Bernstein (a wicked job by Bruce McCulloch). In other words, these two girls were the infamous whistle-blower known as Deep Throat.

The film has three basic stages, their titles voiced by Williams. First is the "I love Dick" period; then "I hate Dick"; and finally "I'm frightened by Dick." When these words are uttered, you may feel the same way.

This is a one-joke movie -- but what a great joke. The premise of two airhead girls unknowingly changing the course of history while totally oblivious to everything going on around them, is hysterically funny. Written and directed by Andrew Fleming and co-written by Sheryl Longin, "Dick" is a teen-age comedy aimed squarely at adults.

The film, which also stars Dave Foley as Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman and Harry Shearer as G. Gordon Liddy, is being promoted as "Clueless" meets "All the President's Men," and that's a fair comparison.

One of the funniest parts of the film is the outrageous explanation of the 18-and-a-half-minute gap in Nixon's office tape recordings. But, as producer Gale Anne Hurd says in the film's production notes, "The cast of characters in Nixon's White House were so outrageous to begin with that any kind of parody or caricature is almost unnecessary." She's right. The funniest moments are usually things that actually happened.

"Dick" is a nice piece of summer comedy fluff. This was actually a sad part of American history, but time and this film now finally allow us to look back and laugh at it all.

"Dick" opens nationwide on Wednesday and is rated PG-13 for sex-related humor, drug content and language. 90 minutes.