The Loud Bassoon

Dick (1999)
Directed by Andrew Fleming

Dick seems to have been created specifically to be watched while you are high. It offers cheesecake, dumb blonde dialogue, pot humor, easy-to-digest 70s pop culture references, loads of familiar faces, instantly identifiable songs, and the occasional hint of a story. All this said, I am not against it at all, in fact, I am merely disappointed in myself for not having been high while watching it. What could have been a righteously giddy ride turned out to be just a pleasant enough way to pass the time.

Michelle Williams emerges surprisingly victorious over Kirsten Dunst in both performance and overall cuteness. She wiggles her nose a lot and that is really quite fetching. Kirsten Dunst is certainly foxy, but she phones in a one-note performance only marginally more satisfying than staring at a "Marie Claire" photo shoot of her for ninety minutes. The plot centers around two 15-year-old girls stumbling into the events of the late Nixon presidency. Timely fare to foist on the super-astute teen filmgoers of today.

No one is trying very hard, although everyone looks like they had a good time. Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch are great in a ridiculous sendup of Woodward and Bernstein; Dave Foley plays Halderman pretty much as Dave Foley; Dan Hedaya is a Nixon that has truly nothing to do with the actual Nixon. Devon Gummersall (lonely, angsty Brian from 'My So-Called Life') resurfaces as Kirsten Dunst's stoned older brother.

I can't say I laughed out loud even once, but as I mentioned before, I wasn't high, so clearly the fault is mine.

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Review by Ursula Vola Uvula


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