An amusing spoof, released in the summer of 1999, of Watergate and the Nixon administration. Unfortunately, it was released about 10 or 15 years too late.


Betsy.............Kirsten Dunst
Arlene............Michelle Williams
"Dick" Nixon.......Dan Hedaya
G. Gordon Liddy....Harry Shearer
Kissinger...........Saul Rubinek
Bob Woodward.....Will Ferrell
Carl Bernstein...Bruce McCulloch
Ben Bradlee......G.D. Spradlin

Directed by Andrew Fleming; written by Fleming and Sheryl Longin. Running time is approximately 95 minutes. Rated "PG-13" for language, sexual situations and drug usage.


Betsy and Arlene are two teenage girls who witness the break-in at the Democratic National headquarters in Washington's Watergate hotel. They're offered menial jobs in the White House as a payoff, but as a result are witnesses to the cover-up, are the cause the famous 18 1/2 minute gap in one of Nixon's tapes, and eventually become known as the infamous "Deep Throat."

I missed this pic when it was released to theaters; it bombed and disappeared quite quickly. I finally caught it upon its return to Showtime this month. It's worth a look on cable or a rental, particularly as a comic counterpart to ultra-serious films like Nixon or All The President's Men that cover the same territory.

Harry Shearer wears such a huge mustache as Liddy that the 'stache should have got its own credit line.
Dan Hedaya plays Nixon like a cross between his Cheers character Nick Tortelli, and the many '70's impressionists, particularly David Frye, who made a career out of making fun of Nixon. His interpretation of Nixon's body language is quite good, though.
The two girls watch Nixon's resignation speech from a TV store in the daytime. In reality, Nixon's resignation speech was broadcast live at 9 p.m. on August 8, 1974.
The girls (who are assigned as White House dog walkers) call the Nixon's dog "Checkers." Checkers (the subject of Nixon's 1952 "Checkers Speech") died in 1964. And, he was a cocker spaniel, not that big pooch (the breed of which I don't know) that's seen in the movie.
The film's soundtrack is chock-full of 1970's music. Including a cute ditty titled "Popcorn" by "Hot Butter," and Blue Swede's great cover of "Hooked On A Feeling."
The identity of "Deep Throat" was revealed a couple of years ago. He was W. Mark Felt, a then high-ranking FBI official. Definitely not two 15-year old girls.
Interiors for the film were shot in Toronto, Canada, and I'm assuming the White House sets were constructed there. Wouldn't it have been cheaper to rent or borrow the White House sets that were built for Dave and were still standing in Hollywood when this pic was shot. After all, film companies always seem to be looking to cut costs. The Dave sets were used in The American President, Nixon, Thirteen Days and The West Wing. Maybe other productions that I'm unaware of as well. Or, maybe the Dave sets weren't available...?
The back part of the Washington Post office set looks like what it probably is - a scenic painting.

Dick star Kirsten Dunst has allegedly checked into rehab. Supposedly, she was intoxicated when she checked in. (Her excessive use of booze and other substances may explain her frequently giddy performance in 2006's Marie Antoinette.) More here.

Michelle Williams sports a visible tattoo (on her back) in this flick, something 15 year old girls in the 1970's did not do. One reason being you need to be at least 18 to get one in most places. Tattoos only became fashionable in the 1990's, and New York City lifted its ban on tattoo parlors in 1997, which had been in effect since 1961.

The age limit I can assure you mean nothing. I've known several girls who got tats while they were under 18. Some went with their Moms and got them with permission, others use fake IDs or just knew the tattoo artist and didn't get IDed at all. However your point about tattoos not being something that mainstream girls did in the 1970s still stands.