Search - Dick [Widescreen/Fullscreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Adult Humor, Sexual Situations, Drug Content, Youth Substance Use, Suitable for Teens Movie Release: 1999 DVD Release: 12/14/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 34 mins Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Comedy, Teen Movie, Political Satire See Also: Dick [Widescreen]

The mystery of the 18-minute-gap in Richard Nixon's White House tapes -- and how it connects to the previously undocumented involvement of two teenage girls in the Watergate scandal -- is the subject of this political comedy. Betsy Jobs (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlene Lorenzo (Michelle Williams) are high school students and best friends living in Washington D.C. in 1972. Betsy is pretty and popular, while Arlene is cute but a bit awkward. Arlene is obsessed with singing star Bobby Sherman, but that comes to a halt when she and Betsy get lost during a school field trip to the White House. A chance encounter with Checkers the dog leads to the girls meeting President Richard M. Nixon himself (Dan Hedaya). In Nixon, Arlene sees a strong, caring man who loves his dog, and she soon develops a furious crush on the president; Betsy is puzzled but remains supportive. Arlene's devotion to the president is rewarded when she and Betsy are named official White House dog walkers; however, when Arlene and Betsy discover that Nixon has a foul mouth and a short temper and, worst of all, kicks his dog, they realize that the President is not all he appears to be. And when they overhear Nixon ranting about Bob Woodward (Will Ferrell) and Carl Bernstein (Bruce McCulloch), a pair of reporters from The Washington Post looking for dirt on the President, Arlene and Betsy decide that they're happy to help. Dick also features Dave Foley as Bob Haldeman, Harry Shearer as G. Gordon Liddy, and Ana Gasteyer as Rosemary Woods. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Kirsten Dunst - Betsy Jobs
Michelle Williams - Arlene Lorenzo
Jim Breuer - John Dean
Will Ferrell - Bob Woodward
Dave Foley - Bob Haldeman
Dan Hedaya - Richard M. Nixon

Clearly the makers of the DVD edition of Dick put some effort into the project, which only serves to make the result more disappointing. The "Talent Files" section does provide useful information on director/co-writer Andrew Fleming and the three leads, but the commentary track by Fleming and his co-screenwriter Sheryl Longin contains few insights or surprises. There's a standard making-of featurette: an unremarkable assembly of clips and interviews that clocks in at under five minutes. There's also a single deleted scene and three theatrical trailers, one each for Dick, Can't Hardly Wait, and Spice World. The most baffling feature is a blooper/gag reel that probably got big laughs at the cast wrap party, but won't do much for anyone who wasn't involved in making the film. On the technical side, although the film looks great in both 1.85:1 widescreen and 1.33:1 full screen, the Dolby and Surround Sound mixes require the viewer to turn the volume up pretty high in order to hear the dialogue over the incessant period music. ~ Jeff Alexander, All Movie Guide