Dick

Semi-Clueless

Dick is one of those movies that gets by almost entirely on the cute factor. It's a satirical look at the end of the Nixon's career as the President of the United States as filtered through two high school girls. Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams do fine in the lead roles opposite Dan Hedaya in the title role. This kind of revisionist history can be a lot of fun, as the audience gets to take advantage of everything they know about Watergate. By centering on semi-ditzy teenagers and having Hedaya in it, Dick resembles Clueless a little bit. Speaking of Hedaya, his Nixon impersonation is quite good, and the makeup department did good work. They didn't do quite as well with Harry Shearer, whose makeup looks like it's trying to get away from him in some shots.

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Dick is populated by lots of television talent, and there are times when it gets to be a bit much. Dave Foley is impeccable, but fellow "Kids in the Hall" alum Bruce McCulloch hams it up too much. There are also many recent "Saturday Night Live" cast members, including Will Ferrell, Jim Breuer, and Ana Gasteyer. All of them seem a bit too over-the-top for what I would expect Nixon to surround himself with, but in a flight of fancy like this, I shouldn't complain.