Directed by Warren Beatty
Written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. (characters by Chester Gould)
Starring literally everyone in Hollywood
Rated PG (ha!)
Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes

By Ashley Jane Davis, Rosalie Kicks, and Nikk Nelson

Ashley Jane:

Picture it. April 1991; little Ashley Jane excitedly bouncing around the parking lot toward the main entrance of Disney World in Florida. I had never been before and, needless to say, I was pumped. I was decked out in my best acid-wash denim shorts, white high-top basketball sneakers, and blue t-shirt with a neon picture of a windsurfer on it (because I was a 5-year-old who was, like, totally into windsurfing). Were you lucky enough to get to go to Disney World as a kid? There was a lot to take in. Of all the sights and sounds and snacks and things to ask my parents to buy me, I was most drawn to…*drumroll*... Dick Tracy.

Rosalie Kicks:
Wellll… as a child there were two weeks during the month of August in which I had a break from slinging produce at my grandparents’s farmer’s market. During that time, we would pack up the conversion van and head south. Pop Pop Richard and Grammy Rosalie Davis would treat me to an all expense paid trip to Disney World aka The Land of The Mouse.

Unlike Ashley Jane, I don’t recall being attracted to Dick Tracy paraphernalia while there. My love of Dick Tracy would come later. It was probably around the mid-90s, when my fascination for Tracy and the gang would come to fruition. I recall there being a VHS tape at our house with a copy of the film on it. My Aunt Mimi’s son, Stevie, would record flicks off premium channels, back when that was all the rage. He made my brother and me meticulously labeled tapes that would have double features such as Bambi and ET, but I was fascinated with the Dick Tracy tape.

Everything was drenched in saturated primary colors and I loved visiting that world often, wishing that I could step right in to it...that is until Flattop showed up. 

Nikk Nelson::

My clearest childhood memory of Dick Tracy was the film’s trailer. I don’t remember what movie we were seeing when it appeared, all I remember thinking was that it was trying to be like Batman (1989). It had the same look and feel, even the same music. It seems, even at five years old, when it came to flicks, I kind of knew what I was talking about. I went nuts over Batman. We saw it at a drive-in movie theater Fourth of July weekend that year. My older brother was pissed because our parents said we could either go see the movie or go to the cabin and shoot off fireworks and I got to choose because it was my birthday. My brother wanted fireworks. Without hesitation, I chose Batman. Later, my brother put me in a sharpshooter until I cried. Anywho, I watched so much TV as a kid, the only other thing about Dick Tracy I was aware of was the tabloid hullabaloo around Warren Beatty and Madonna dating. I think Madonna’s book Sex was out around the same time and there was a black and white documentary I remember seeing where she said Sean Penn was the love of her life. I seriously wonder if she still feels the same way. 

Ashley Jane: 

I didn’t know what Dick Tracy was, but I was instantly drawn to the look of it all. This fellow draped in yellow, like a badass version of the Man with the Yellow Hat from Curious George books, seemed very cool. All throughout the park, there were Dick Tracy-themed photo ops and I posed with every last one. I left the park that day with the biggest prize of all - the Dick Tracy LCD game watch by Tiger Electronics. Wow! This was simply the most elegant timepiece my little eyes had ever beheld. The finest plastic on plastic. I started playing with it on the car ride home. My mom was not impressed because one of the voices said, “Merry Christmas, copper!” and we didn’t celebrate Christmas, but I begged my parents to let me keep it. From that day on, I just HAD to see Dick Tracy.

Then one day, many months later, it finally happened. My dad rented Dick Tracy from Popcorn Video, and I was simply d-a-z-z-l-e-d. I loved the movie. I loved the costumes, the villains (Al Pacino’s most chill and subdued performance...), the makeup, the backdrops, the colours! It looked like I was watching a comic book. It was rated PG, but probably should not have been? It was… eye opening. But most of all, I was in love with the music. I still am. Folks, this is STEPHEN SONDHEIM. No foolin’, “Sooner or Later” is a masterpiece. “What Can You Lose”? Makes me cry. “More”?? Well, when I recently made my sweetheart watch this movie with me, I think she was slightly unnerved by my word-for-word performance of this number over the ending credits. There is a lot to love. However, this movie is not perfect. 

Rosalie Kicks:

I NEED this watch that you talk of. Also, the soundtrack - I agree with you: it is superb. However, I need to discuss the Tracy merchandise… Last year, when the pandemic first hit, I found myself seeking items from my youth. Growing up, I always wanted a set of Dick Tracy Dollz. One of my uncles had all of ‘em and kept them locked up securely behind glass, safe from my thieving little hands. 

Thanks to eBay, I now own an entire set of them and they live happily in my laboratory, awaiting their close-up in one of my next films. In searching for the dollz last year, I discovered that Dick Tracy was one of those flicks that had everything in terms of movie themed products available. From lunchboxes, sweatshirts to cosmetic kits. This was a film that took marketing to a whole new level.

I feel that today they don’t get as creative with movie merch. I am the type of person that seeks out more than just a t-shirt. Whatever happened to creating such things as a painter’s cap or suspenders. I love donning this type of obscure stuff to show my love of a film. Now excuse me, I must go search for this Breathless Mahoney Satin jacket and Flattop mask. 

Nikk Nelson: 

My best friend growing up had everything. Every movie, toy, videogame, you name it. And because he was into Dick Tracy, it meant I had access to some fun things too. He had the watch, I remember that, and it was one of the fancier $39.99 at Toys “R” Us kind. And there was a tommy gun, though I don’t remember if it was specifically movie merch. Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street was the invisible boogeyman we would endlessly battle in the backyard and the variety in our arsenal was unmatched. Imagine being Freddy Krueger and showing up to a fight where your opponents have the Dick Tracy watch, a tommy gun, two lightsabers, the He-Man sword, and all four sets of weapons from the TMNT? Good luck, fucker. 

The movie itself, my friend and I would fall asleep watching it every time. Even though it was definitely marketed to kids, it wasn’t really built for them--with rare exceptions like Ashley Jane. Reading her pieces just now, I laughed out loud. Her excitement in this world is indeed infectious. I had been meaning to revisit this film for years and was excited for the opportunity. Finally watching it again as an adult, I have several questions.

Ashley Jane: 

I will never forget the moment in the film when Dick Tracy first removed his yellow fedora. My disappointment was all Dick. As a child, I remember thinking, “This guy? Is Dick Tracy?” To me, this character was simply not likeable. He didn’t live up to what I imagined. He’s kinda wishy-washy with everything (except when it comes to his job). Does he want to be with Tess? Mehhh, I dunno. Does he want to take The Kid under his wing? Mehhh, I dunno. Does he want to smooch Breathless Mahoney? Mehhh, I dunno. As I grew up, the character appealed to me even less - I’m really never in the mood to cheer on a cop - but I still had fun in this world. (And I wish I still had that watch!)

Rosalie Kicks:

Yeah, Dick Tracy definitely has some issues in terms of commitment. To go back to a comment you made earlier about the film not being perfect… I totally agree. There is a lot to love here in terms of production design, costumes and of course as mentioned, the music (I must say - the song “More” is a masterpiece).

As I watch the film as an adult, I find I’m more into the villains than I am Dick Tracy himself. Dick is not a great guy and, frankly, I question why so many look up to the chump. I used to be terrified of Flattop and now can’t get enough of him. I love the opening scene when he leaves the “Eat Lead Tracy” message, he shows no fear against the coppers, and his death is rather gnarly as well .

Nikk Nelson: 

With Warren Beatty producing and directing, my main question was, he had to make a conscious choice for this movie to look and feel like Batman, right? I can imagine it. It’s 1990, Batman was just one of the biggest movies anyone had ever seen, suddenly studios are clamoring to produce comic book movies, and here comes Warren Beatty, one assumes a huge fan of Dick Tracy, who wants to make this movie. I’m really curious to know if an interview exists where he sheds light on this. In order for Disney to give him an obscene amount of money to make it, did he have to promise it would be exactly like Batman? Or, how far were they already in production? Did Batman drop and they were like, ‘Oh, shit. We need to make this movie look more like that! Get Danny Elfman on the phone now!’?

What’s funny is, Danny’s score is what takes me out of the movie most. Dick Tracy is not Batman. And moments like, ‘Okay, big cop, jump down on this teeter-totter and catapult me up through the window because I don’t have a grappling gun’ prove it/made me horse-laugh. Don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot I love about it. The sets, costumes, and makeup are incredible. Al Pacino’s relentlessly manic performance is truly something to behold. But, in my opinion, the movie is hopelessly imbalanced. A lot of the action sequences happen over musical montage and the action that’s present is, at times, shockingly violent. In the climactic shootout, I don’t know if Warren Beatty just really wanted to be on the other side of the tommy gun this time, but he totally Bonnie and Clyde’s the shit out of Flattop and Itchy. It strangely mirrors the tommy gun scene in Miller’s Crossing (1990) which is a weird thing to say about something that’s supposed to be a kid’s movie. Like, what was supposed to happen is during the shootout, Dick Tracy looks across the street, sees a bakery, riddles it with bullets, and then somehow twelve lemon meringue pies fly out and kersplat all the bad guys who then have to go home because they look ridiculous.