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#56 - Flirting with Disaster
David O. Russell, 1996
A family man goes on a cross-country trip in search of his biological parents.
Flirting with Disaster is another David O. Russell film that involves a dysfunctional family clashing with one another. The plot is significantly influenced by Russell's trademark approach to family dynamics as it concerns an adopted neurotic (Ben Stiller) who is obsessing over the search for his biological parents. When his case worker (Téa Leoni) says that she's found a lead regarding his true parentage, he plans to follow the lead to another part of the country, dragging his wife (Patricia Arquette) and infant son along in the process (and upsetting his equally neurotic adoptive parents in the process). What follows is a comedy of errors that sees Stiller, Arquette, and Leoni travel all over the country following up lead after lead to apparently amusing results. Though a good chunk of the humour arises from the encounters that Stiller and co. have with the various weirdos that they meet in their travel, there's just as much that's likely to arise due to the different types of tension between the lead trio.
Unfortunately, Flirting with Disaster feels like far more of a chore than any ninety-minute comedy ever should. Having seen six Russell films by now, I am definitely burned out on how most of them involve scene after scene of the cast (who usually make up a family unit or at least a surrogate family) bickering with one another. Though Flirting with Disaster is one of his earliest films, it shows off all the flaws that plague every film of his (except possibly Three Kings) and that's before they all got refined into his current brand of bloodless Oscar bait. In fairness, he does demonstrate his usual capacity for assembling decent casts, but the members of this particular cast barely get anything of worth to do. Stiller's quixotic search for meaning constantly results in disaster after disaster while Arquette is stuck playing a spouse who frequently alternates between supportive and dismissive of her husband's journey. Leoni makes up a clumsy third part of a trite love triangle, while the various supporting players tend to get on my nerves regardless of how much I've liked them in other things. This even applies to Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin playing a pair of elderly hippies that the main group encounters - they easily end up being the best thing about this film, and even then they're not that good. Flirting with Disaster ends up being a dire excuse for a quirky comedy about finding one's self that may feel like it's all been done better before, but that's mostly by default.
David O. Russell, 1996
A family man goes on a cross-country trip in search of his biological parents.
Flirting with Disaster is another David O. Russell film that involves a dysfunctional family clashing with one another. The plot is significantly influenced by Russell's trademark approach to family dynamics as it concerns an adopted neurotic (Ben Stiller) who is obsessing over the search for his biological parents. When his case worker (Téa Leoni) says that she's found a lead regarding his true parentage, he plans to follow the lead to another part of the country, dragging his wife (Patricia Arquette) and infant son along in the process (and upsetting his equally neurotic adoptive parents in the process). What follows is a comedy of errors that sees Stiller, Arquette, and Leoni travel all over the country following up lead after lead to apparently amusing results. Though a good chunk of the humour arises from the encounters that Stiller and co. have with the various weirdos that they meet in their travel, there's just as much that's likely to arise due to the different types of tension between the lead trio.
Unfortunately, Flirting with Disaster feels like far more of a chore than any ninety-minute comedy ever should. Having seen six Russell films by now, I am definitely burned out on how most of them involve scene after scene of the cast (who usually make up a family unit or at least a surrogate family) bickering with one another. Though Flirting with Disaster is one of his earliest films, it shows off all the flaws that plague every film of his (except possibly Three Kings) and that's before they all got refined into his current brand of bloodless Oscar bait. In fairness, he does demonstrate his usual capacity for assembling decent casts, but the members of this particular cast barely get anything of worth to do. Stiller's quixotic search for meaning constantly results in disaster after disaster while Arquette is stuck playing a spouse who frequently alternates between supportive and dismissive of her husband's journey. Leoni makes up a clumsy third part of a trite love triangle, while the various supporting players tend to get on my nerves regardless of how much I've liked them in other things. This even applies to Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin playing a pair of elderly hippies that the main group encounters - they easily end up being the best thing about this film, and even then they're not that good. Flirting with Disaster ends up being a dire excuse for a quirky comedy about finding one's self that may feel like it's all been done better before, but that's mostly by default.