History Film / Dick

** Betsy and Arlene are introduced writing a letter to Bobby Sherman. Arlene gets a bit caught up in waxing lyrical over her crush on him; she's quickly established as rather shy, romantic and quick to get caught up in her feelings. Betsy, meanwhile, gets cheerfully excited about managing to peck out two whole words on the typewriter before Arlene kicks her off; she's sweet and enthusiastic, but a bit of a ditz.

** Woodward and Bernstein's interview at the opening of the film, which degenerates into a bitch, passive-aggressive ZeroChops slap fight. It indicates both that these two are buffoonish egotists and that this film will be a rather irreverent take on the Nixon administration.

* AccidentalPublicConfession: The girls confront Nixon "[[YouKnowWhatYouDid with what they know]]". Panicked, Nixon launches into a furious rant denouncing "the radical muckraking bastards at the ''Washington Post''", inadvertently confessing in the process. After a stunned pause, the girls reveal that they were just taking about his abuse to Checkers.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: It's the fact that Nixon is mean to his dog that gets the girls ''really'' outraged.

** He turns the charm on immediately on seeing the girls, but our first glimpse of Nixon himself, wherein he's distracted from a meeting with the White House Counsel by griping about how his dog never shows him any affection, tells us everything we need to know; he's a bitter, insecure jerk.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Kissinger is portrayed as the affable, ignored OnlySaneMan of the Nixon Administration. In real life, he is considered by many to be a war criminal, and [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement that's all that will be said.]]

* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle

** A minor case is Betsy saying "Oh fudge!" over a typo in the opening scene, despite the film being set a decade before ''Film/AChristmasStory'' made this a popular swear replacement.

* DirtyOldMan: Averted. Nixon's horrified at the implication of a teenager crushing on him, though he's more disturbed at the thought of the press finding out than he is that Arlene is attracted to him.

** ...before settling on [[{{Squick}}Dick]].

A 1999 comedy film, directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Creator/KirstenDunst, Creator/MichelleWilliams, and Dan Hedeya, about the fall of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon (yes, that's who the [[IntentionallyAwkwardTitle title]] refers to; [[DoubleEntendre get your mind out of the gutter]]).

Betsy (Dunst) and Arlene (Williams) are two kind-hearted but [[TheDitz not overly bright]] best friends who, while sneaking out late at night to mail an entry to a "meet Bobby Sherman" contest, inadvertently cause the Watergate break-in to be discovered. Later, on a school trip to the White House, they are recognized and spirited away to be interrogated, which indirectly results in them meeting President Nixon (Hedaya) face to face. Nixon, recognizing their lack of interest in politics of any kind along with their great interest in petting his dog Checkers, buys their silence by naming them the "official White House dog walkers", meaning that they are present for all the major moments of Nixon's presidency.

A 1999 comedy film starring Creator/KirstenDunst, Creator/MichelleWilliams, and Dan Hedeya, about the fall of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon (yes, that's who the [[IntentionallyAwkwardTitle title]] refers to; [[DoubleEntendre get your mind out of the gutter]]).

1999 comedy film starring Creator/KirstenDunst, Creator/MichelleWilliams and Dan Hedeya about the fall of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon (yes, that's who the [[IntentionallyAwkwardTitle title]] refers to; [[DoubleEntendre get your mind out of the gutter]]).

Betsy and Arlene are two kind-hearted [[TheDitz but not overly bright]] best friends who, in sneaking out late at night to post an entry to a 'meet Bobby Sherman' contest, inadvertently cause the Watergate break-in to be discovered. Later, on a school trip to the White House, they are recognized and spirited away to be interrogated, which indirectly results in them meeting UsefulNotes/RichardNixon face to face. Nixon, recognizing their lack of interest in politics of any kind but their great interest in petting his dog Checkers, buys their silence by naming them the 'official White House dog walkers', meaning that they are present for all the major moments of Nixon's presidency.

But their naive loyalty is shattered when they discover evidence that Nixon is mean to his dog (oh, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and of his large-scale criminal activities and corruption]]) and vow to bring him down. And so, with the help of the title of Betty's brother's favourite porn movie and the bungling Woodward and Bernstein of the ''Washington Post'', [[MysteriousInformant Deep Throat]] is born...

* CelebrityCrush: Arlene is originally infatuated with Bobby Sherman.

* SeventiesHair: Carl Bernstein sports a luxurious pompadour, spoofing Dustin Hoffman's look in ''AllThePresidentsMen''.

* CastingGag: Both Dan Hedeya and Creator/SaulRubinek had minor roles in Oliver Stone's ''Film/{{Nixon}}'', a 1995 biopic of Nixon. In this movie, they're promoted to UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and UsefulNotes/HenryKissinger respectively.

->''You suck, Dick!''

''You suck, Dick!''

* HistoricalInJoke: [[HistoryMarchesOn The movie was made before W. Mark Felt admitted he was the true identity of 'Deep Throat'.]]

* BeenThereShapedHistory: In addition to accidentally exposing the entire Watergate scandal Betsy and Arlene teach Nixon the VSign, and the Hello Dolly cookies they bring in get Leonid Brezhnev high and get help the Moscow Summit peace talks run smoothly.

* CastingGag: Both Dan Hedeya and Creator/SaulRubinek had minor roles in Oliver Stone's ''Film/{{Nixon}}'', a 1995 biopic of Nixon. In this movie, they're promoted to UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and Henry Kissinger respectively.

** Additionally, the marijuana-laced cookies the girls give Nixon help the talks with Leonid Brezhnev go smoothly, leading to the end of the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar; the eighteen minute gap in Nixon's tapes is because Arlene confessed her love for him on it and he erased the confession; and the two give Nixon the idea to do the VSign.

* CastingGag: Both Dan Hedeya and Creator/SaulRubinek had minor roles in Oliver Stone's ''{{Nixon}}'', a 1995 biopic of Nixon. In this movie, they're promoted to UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and Henry Kissinger respectively.