Dick

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Director Andrew Fleming’s unabashedly farcical, deliciously irreverent reimagining of the Watergate scandal situates a pair of unexpected protagonists at the center of the storied incident: Betsy (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlene (Michelle Williams), two bubbly teen blondes who, on the fateful night of June 17, 1972, unwittingly cross paths with Republican operatives in the midst of breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, thereby inadvertently leading to the burglars’ arrest. When a class field trip to the White House occasions a surprise encounter with President Nixon (ingeniously impersonated by Dan Hedaya) and lead operative G. Gordon Liddy (Harry Shearer), who recognizes Betsy and Arlene from their earlier encounter, the two girls soon find themselves caught up in the inner workings of the administration and the scandal’s disastrous fallout. Boasting unforgettable supporting performances from a murderer’s row of SNL and Kids in the Hall alumni (most notably Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch as a buffoonish Woodward and Bernstein), and a raucous period soundtrack made up entirely of Top 40 hits from the decade, Fleming’s film remains a high-water mark of Gen X political satire a quarter-century after its release—and wound up serving as a crucial launchpad for the adult careers of Dunst and Williams, both of whom have since gained recognition as among the finest actors of their generation.