Dick (Film Review)

1999 Sony Pictures
Directed by: Andrew Fleming; Written by: Andrew Fleming and Sheryl Longin
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Dave Foley, Harry Shearer, and Dan Hedaya
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 94 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 6/10

Betsy and Arlene are two bubbly and not so bright teenage girls who live at the Watergate apartment complex in 1972 Washington, D.C. Through a comedy of errors, the dim-witted duo find themselves with the role of Presidential dogwalkers. Suddenly, they're cozied up with Richard Nixon himself, bringing him cookies and having nice chats everyday. Arlene even falls in unrequited love with old Tricky Dick. However, everything goes to hell when the two find out Nixon might be involved in nefarious activities...and he might not even like his dog!
Dick is dumb. However, the first half of the 1999 film is charming and good-natured. As Betsy and Arlene, Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams act as dumb blond as possible, fully exploring every square comedic inch of the stereotype. They have incredibly fun chemistry with Dan Hedaya as Richard Nixon. The trio's scenes together are over-the-top, ridiculous, and quite funny. Arlene's insane fantasy scenes with Hedaya, including a wildly surreal moment at the beach, had me in stitches. The hook of the film, essentially these two dum-dums hanging out with an over-the-top caricature of Nixon, is a lot of fun...but that hook is eliminated halfway through the film. It's replaced with a far less interesting, and far less funny, "these two dummies are actually Deep-Throat" hook that mostly fails to hold my interest (Deep Throat was a government informant that helped take Nixon down). 

If this betrayal/investigation story turn had simply occupied the last 15-20 minutes of the film instead of the entire second half, Dick might have been far more enjoyable. Instead, the film turns into a strange, "who is this even for?" comedy without comedy. Legendary comedic actors like Harry Shearer, Dave Foley, Will Ferrell, Jim Breuer, and Ana Gasteyer don't elicit a single laugh, and aren't even asked by the script to do so. What a shame, as that first half is so funny and fun.