Flirting With Disaster | Rotten Tomatoes

Flirting With Disaster

R

Released Mar 22, 1996

1 hr. 32 min.

Comedy

List

88%

56 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Adopted as a child, new father Mel Colpin (Ben Stiller) decides he cannot name his son until he knows his birth parents, and determines to make a cross-country quest to find them. Accompanied by his wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and an inept yet gorgeous adoption agent, Tina (Tea Leoni), he departs on an epic road trip that quickly devolves into a farce of mistaken identities, wrong turns, and overzealous and love-struck ATF agents (Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins).

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Critics Consensus

Darkly funny, solidly cast, and surprisingly thoughtful, Flirting with Disaster proved David O. Russell's Spanking the Monkey was no fluke.

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Steve D

The whole thing is too ridiculous and poorly written to work.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Celeste B

This movie is super underrated. It is excellent with an outstanding cast. The themes are hilarious - a must see!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/24/22

Full Review

Diane B

Underrated comedy with the incomparable Mary Tyler Moore and Ben Stiller propelling us along with an all-star cast of wackos. You can't choose who your family is -- but you can be damn glad they gave you away.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/16/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Yeah, so I saw it finally, and seriously doubt I'll do that again. Ben Stiller is stiff as a board throughout. Leoni is a sexy stick woman. Patricia Arquette is fine but so lowkey, but we do get lots of nice b-cup cleavage. But I really could've done w/o Tyler-Moore's. I have never, ever understood the attraction of George Segal. Just another grumpy, neurotic 'What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?' actor. Jenkins is good, but he always seems to be. Brolin isn't bad either. Seems like they wanted to make this some sort of wacky road with far-ranging types like the cornball 'honey hush-yo-mouth' southerner, the meathead trucker, the acid lab people w/ the lame performance by Glenn Fitzgerald as the uber-spoiled over-anxious gay son. But it didn't fit well together. For one, Alan Alda is NOT wacky; not for a long time now. Just not enough funny lines, scenarios, or performances. I liked it for the few laughs I got, a couple of the performances, and Arquette's breasts. We'll go with 2.8 stars

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Joel C

Funny as hell. Good characters and awkward situations, basically Stiller's career in a nutshell, but this one does it really well. A guy trying to find his biological parents winds up in strange situations with a group of wildly different people on a road trip. Great script and made well with a great director.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/16/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Funny and worth the watch. Especially Richard Jenkins and Josh Brolin!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

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David O. Russell

Director

Ben Stiller

Mel Coplin

Patricia Arquette

Nancy Coplin

Téa Leoni

Tina Kalb

Alan Alda

Richard Schlichting

Mary Tyler Moore

Mrs. Coplin

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

The results are watchable enough–sometimes funny, sometimes over the top–and fairly fresh, though also a bit calculated. Leoni has an interesting comic presence one would like to see in toothier material, though this certainly has a few bites.

Jun 14, 2022

Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

It's a road movie, and a family comedy, and neurotic Woody Allen-style rom-com, but none of those crisp, compact boxes can properly contain this wild, strange, unruly picture.

Apr 9, 2016

Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

David O. Russell has a twisted mind; I like that in a man.

Rated: B

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Russell’s deceptively wise film sustains those insane, out-of-touch moments of behavior and prolongs them, making the experience torturously funny, but rewarding on multiple levels.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 20, 2022

Full Review

Sheila Reid

Women in the Life

It's a hilarious lesson about accepting your family no matter how crazy they may be.

May 31, 2022

Full Review

Mal Vincent

The Virginian-Pilot

It's well worth the trip that this wacky lot maps.

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 15, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Adopted as a child, new father Mel Colpin (Ben Stiller) decides he cannot name his son until he knows his birth parents, and determines to make a cross-country quest to find them. Accompanied by his wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and an inept yet gorgeous adoption agent, Tina (Tea Leoni), he departs on an epic road trip that quickly devolves into a farce of mistaken identities, wrong turns, and overzealous and love-struck ATF agents (Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins).

Director: David O. Russell
Executive Producer: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein
Screenwriter: David O. Russell
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 22, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 7, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.8M
Sound Mix: Surround

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