Purely Joyful Movie!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Why the mediocre review? Must be personal taste. A great cast with impeccable comedic performances along with all the 'inside jokes' of the era. The essence of the era is in every detail. Each scene explodes with groovy phones, televisions and the interiors of the time. Yes, the younger and more innocent girls of that era did truly act and think like the leads. But this movie transcends the girl-buddy genre with each actor completely embracing their character. French Stewart does a great homage to a young Larry King and every actor appears to be having fun. Both Kirstin and Michelle are perfect, and the film never gets old. Praise only to Director Fleming.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable comedy. And yes, this is a "what might have happened" type of movie, so please don't get your knickers in a twist as you watch how two teenage girls got involved in the Watergate scandal.These girls are visiting the White House on a field trip and they end up meeting president Nixon because of taking a wrong turn in one of the corridors. They become official dog walkers and the president's "secret youth advisers". Without realizing it, these girls are deep into the Watergate scandal and they become a source for the two reporters who revealed it all. I loved the way in which the script interleaves with actual events including the 18 1/2 minutes of blank tape - that was the best!!!One of the other reviewers mentioned that it is best enjoyed if you are 35 or older and I am inclined to agree with that viewpoint. If you do not have an understanding of the Watergate scandal and it's impact on American politics, then you wouldn't enjoy this movie. To quote another reviewer, this is truly a "hidden gem". My actual rating for this is a 6.5.

A really fun movie, that takes a serious national mess and makes it a comedy. It is so much more fun to get behind official stories and get the real stories that move events. This is, of course, all make believe and fantasy, but the historical events- the break in, the tapings, the resignation, etc. really did occur. It is in fact a great way to introduce younger people to what happened, while getting a real laugh, actually a lot of laughs, especially at the end. A really fun movie- for those of us who lived through those times it provides a great flashback to the times, the scenes, the music and even the people that were making news back then. Not a grand educational type movie, but the good girls prevail in the end. Don't blame me if you spit your popcorn out a few times with laughter, and if you are old enough to get the jokes you just might. For the type of movie it is- a comedy, it is hard to see how it could get much better.

What if it turned out the central figures in uncovering the Watergate scandal were a pair of ditzy teenage girls? Is that so outlandish? Well, yes, I suppose it is. But that's what makes it so funny. This movie fills in the gaps in history (including that famous 18½-minute gap) with lots and lots of laughs. The story is implausible and impossible, a series of contrivances one piled on top of another. But in this bizarre alternate universe, one in which the fate of the free world rests in the hands of a pair of dumb blondes, the story works. The movie is funny, charming and thoroughly enjoyable.Our two ditzes are Betsy and Arlene, played by Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams respectively. They really are a couple of airheads. Arlene is meant to be the more serious-minded of the two. You can tell this because she wears glasses. That's always the way it works in movies, right? Betsy meanwhile is totally out there, a 1970s hippie chick floating on the breeze without a care in the world. Quite by accident Betsy and Arlene lead to the discovery of the Watergate break-in. They're oblivious to this of course. They're oblivious to pretty much everything. But when G. Gordon Liddy, who saw the girls at the Watergate, sees them again as they take a White House tour he's afraid they might know something. Soon the girls are meeting President Nixon himself and they find themselves appointed official White House dog-walkers so that the administration can keep an eye on them. But they end up seeing more things they shouldn't see and hearing more things they shouldn't hear. And ultimately they bring down a presidency. All along the way the laughs come fast and furious.Dumb though they are it's impossible not to love Betsy and Arlene. Dunst is terrific with her portrayal of the bubbly, flighty, relentlessly charming Betsy. Arlene is slightly more grounded than Betsy (everything's relative) so Williams doesn't have as showy a part to play as Dunst does. But she's very good too. All the supporting players are spot-on as they bring real-life Watergate figures to comedic life. Dan Hedaya's a great, funny Nixon. Dave Foley, Jim Breuer, Harry Shearer and Saul Rubinek all capture their respective White House figures well. And famous Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein are rather hilariously portrayed as bumbling, bickering fools by Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch. The more you know about the actual Watergate scandal the more you'll probably appreciate the movie. It definitely helps the movie along if you understand all the sly, subtle references to the real events. But even if you know nothing about Watergate at all the movie still has plenty to offer. Not all the jokes require encyclopedic knowledge of 1970s politics. For example when Nixon invites the girls to call him Dick you just know that's setting up for some cheap, easy, lowbrow jokes later on. But cheap and obvious as they are when those jokes do inevitably come they're still funny. This movie manages to make pretty much anything and everything funny. Dick is an enjoyable nostalgia trip back to the far-out '70s, complete with a totally groovy soundtrack. Who knew Watergate could be so funny and charming?