What it’s about
Set in 1972, teenyboppers Betsy and Arlene (Dunst and Williams) accidentally witness the Watergate break-in, and then stumble into a meeting with President Nixon (Hedaya) while on a class trip to the White House. Fearful that they know too much, Nixon offers them a job as dog-walkers and then as his “secret youth advisors”. At first infatuated by his attentions, they eventually become disenchanted with the Commander in chief. They reach out to Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein (Ferrell and McCulloch), referring to themselves (between girlish giggles) as “Deep Throat.”
Why we love it
Fleming’s no-holds-barred spoof of political shenanigans in the early 1970s is a goofy treat. Ever want to know how the Watergate break-in was discovered? Where those eighteen and a half minutes of tape went? Or why Deep Throat chose that moniker? All is answered here as Fleming supposes that two daffy teenagers were innocently involved in bringing down an administration. The joy of the script is that the teens are not even interested in politics; they can’t see beyond their girlish preoccupations. Dunst and Williams are superb, never overplaying their characters’ ditziness, and the supporting cast is golden. Hedaya, Ferrell and McCulloch bring the “crazy” to this bizarro-world “All the President’s Men”. Unappreciated on release, unlike our disgraced President this comic gem deserves a second chance.