Flirting With Disaster (1996)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Lucas M

  
  Flirting With Disarter is a creative dark comedy with different themes, but that David O. Russell can make a funny and terrific film. Fresh.

• Dan S

  
  A less than stellar comedy concerning a young couple (Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette) who feel it is important to discover Stiller's true biological parents before they can name their newborn child. Dumb premise is saved by a screenplay with ferocious comical bite, mostly thanks… More
  A less than stellar comedy concerning a young couple (Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette) who feel it is important to discover Stiller's true biological parents before they can name their newborn child. Dumb premise is saved by a screenplay with ferocious comical bite, mostly thanks to tremendous acting that help make the dialogue and conversations likeable enough. The first half is well-executed given what the premise of the film is, however the second half of the film falls flat on its face repeating the same joke over and over again til' its dead. And, while they are funny, Richard Jenkins and James Brolin as a gay couple who work together as law officers (you read that right) serve no realistic purpose for being in this story whatsoever. It does have some great one-liners ("Hey buddy, you come in here, you lick my wife's armpit...") and the cast from top to bottom is fantastic and impressive, but the story begins to feel quirky for the sake of quirky's sake, and that's when it gets a little annoying.

• Jennifer X

  
  David O. Russell is a really awkward filmmaker, there's always something that doesn't sit quite right. The scenes with Patricia Arquette were the best, but I felt like it was trying to get at something it never quite hit.

• Leigh R

  
  Funny. Kind of boring in the beginning but towards the end it gets pretty hilarious and goofy.

• Mark W

  
  Director David O. Russell has certainly got a quirky style and this being only his second film, you can see where he honed those quirky talents of his. Mel and Nancy Coplin (Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette) are a married couple who have started a young family. The problem is… More
  Director David O. Russell has certainly got a quirky style and this being only his second film, you can see where he honed those quirky talents of his. Mel and Nancy Coplin (Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette) are a married couple who have started a young family. The problem is though, having been adopted from an early age, Mel has some unanswered questions about his past and his real parents. As a result, he can't give his 4 month old baby a name until he has tracked down his biological parents and get a better idea of where he comes from. This then has him, his wife and his adoption case worker (Tea Leoni) travelling across America in search of answers and finding themselves in all sorts of wacky company and ludicrous situations. There is lots to be enjoyed here in this situational comedy about a dysfunctional family with equally dysfunctional friends, striving to just live their lives in the way they see fit. It's just that with everybody striving for different things, there are bound to be clashes and it's these clashes that provide the backbone to this farsical comedy. There is plenty of sharply written dialogue from well written individual characters, played by an excellent ensemble of actors. This is one of Stiller's earlier goffball roles and you can see why he has now been typecast. Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda are a treat as Mel's birth parents who haven't really left the sixties and still retain their tantric, hallucinogenic approach to the world but the real star of the show is the wonderfully talented and underrated Richard Jenkins as a homosexual policeman, who unwittingly consumes some LSD in his evening meal. A hugely talented cast and it also shows the directors early promise but the jokes feel a little forced at times and the film starts to sag around the midway point. However, when Jenkins turns up he safely carries the film home. It's worth it just for him.

• Lorenzo v

  
  </i>"Have you flirted yet?"</i> A young man, his wife, and his incompetent case worker travel across country to find his birth parents. <center><font size=+2 face="Century… More
  </i>"Have you flirted yet?"</i> A young man, his wife, and his incompetent case worker travel across country to find his birth parents. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> Hilarious and wickedly sharp satire about a young man (Stiller in a memorable turn) searching for his identity by trying to locate his biological parents while alienating his neglected and lovely wife (the yummy Arquette) and Leoni (simply wonderful) as his adoption broker. Fine ensemble cast (especially Moore in an inconoclastic poke at her image) and Alda (ditto). Subversive good, clean fun and seriously dysfunctional family values (thank God!) from filmmaker David O. Russell beating the Sophomore Jinx (in this his second turn at the helm).

• Aaron N

  
  Tina: Every marriage is vulnerable, otherwise being married wouldn't mean anything, would it? A very funny film that takes a fairly straightforward and serious premise involving finding one's birth parents and turns it into a mix of screwball comedy with some indie film… More
  Tina: Every marriage is vulnerable, otherwise being married wouldn't mean anything, would it? A very funny film that takes a fairly straightforward and serious premise involving finding one's birth parents and turns it into a mix of screwball comedy with some indie film quirkiness. It also has a terrific ensemble cast. Proving to me once again that Ben Stiller did his best work as an actor during the 90s, he stars as Mel, and new father with his wife Nancy, played by Patricia Arquette, who is intent on finding out who his real parents are, so he can name the baby. Aided by an adoption agent Tina, played by Tea Leoni, looking to document this event, the three head to San Diego to find Mel's real mother. Unfortunately, its just not that easy as mistakes and incompetent work by Tina leads Mel and Nancy on a trip to many different stops before finding the real parents and even then, things do go as planned. Mr. Coplin: Why is everyone getting worked up all of the sudden? I thought we were gunna talk about getting new carpeting. Taking out this crap and putting in the wall-to-wall. Also featuring Alan Alda, Lily Tomlin, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Josh Brolin, and Richard Jenkins in a film written and directed by live wire David O. Russel, this movie manages to be very funny, with characters all managing to have various quirks and problems with themselves. Mary Schlichting: You apologize! Lonnie Schlichting: I'm sorry. Mary Schlichting: Sorry for what? Lonnie Schlichting: I'm sorry that I put windowpane in Mel's quail, and I'm sorry that you ate it. Its very enjoyable, even if things become all sorts of strange by the end. The dialog is frequently funny and all of the actors get the type of sense of humor that this movie has. Mel: [to Agent Tony] You got a lot of nerve. You come in here, you lick my wife's armpit. You know... I'm going to have that image in my head for the rest of my life with your tongue in there. Nancy Coplin: You deserve it.

• Dean M

  
  Hilariously original and inventive comedy is reminiscent of Preston Sturges at his madcap best; the star-studded cast is in peak form.

• Michael G

  
  Dysfunctional family comedies are hit or miss, but this one hits. Hard.

• Stephen E

  
  David O. Russell's comedy of errors "Flirting With Disaster" is downright delightful. It's laugh out loud funny, in all sense of the phrase, and is actually quite well-written. Sure, it may be a little too eccentric for most people's taste, but I very much… More
  David O. Russell's comedy of errors "Flirting With Disaster" is downright delightful. It's laugh out loud funny, in all sense of the phrase, and is actually quite well-written. Sure, it may be a little too eccentric for most people's taste, but I very much enjoyed it.

• Wu C

  
  Might be David O. Russell's best film. Ben Stiller in probably his best role.

• Sarah P

  
  Quriky comedy, very odd situations, it was okay..

• Leo L

  
  Hilarious!

Read all 13 featured audience ratings