FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (1996)

Mel and Nancy Coplin (Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette) are a young couple living in New York City who just had their first child.  They can't seem to decide on a name and that's because Mel is feeling lost - he grew up as an adopted child and with the help of Tina (Tea Leoni) from the adoption, he has now been told that they have located who his REAL parents are.  And so the three of them venture off across the country with baby to seek out Mel's real parents - several mistakes are made, several misunderstandings occur, and hilarity ensues!  Written and directed by Oscar-nominee David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, Three Kings, American Hustle) early in his career, this remains one of the more underappreciated indie comedies of the '90's and features a stacked veteran cast including Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Lily Tomlin, Alan Alda, Richard Jenkins, and Josh Brolin. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

FLIRTING WITH DISASTER - 1996

Directed by David O. Russell

Starring Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Alan Alda, Lily Tomlin, Josh Brolin, Celia Weston, Glenn Fitzgerald, Beth Stern, Cynthia Lamontagne, David Patrick Kelly, John Ford Noonan, Charlet Oberly, and Richard Jenkins

Genre: Indie Comedy 

Happy 30th Anniversary to one of my favorite all-time comedies....PEAK Miramax around a time when it seemed like every other film being released by them had the potential to be something special. This was the second film to be directed by David O. Russell and while it was certainly more mainstream than his debut (Spanking the Monkey), it still had a lot of biting, irreverent humor which stood out at the time and sadly today would be stretched out to accommodate the six season run of an "edgy" HBO comedy like Veep or Silicon Valley. Nothing against the quality of those shows but I gotta say it's just nice to see so many funny characters and situations packed tightly into an engaging 90 minute movie. ;) 

RIP to the late, great George Segal who's quite funny in a supporting role where he almost seems to pass the torch of playing put-upon nebbishy protagonists to Ben Stiller and boy does Stiller run with it! (Audio clip) 

Segal helps fill out a STELLAR supporting cast of quirky characters all played perfectly by gifted actors who are each given at least one or two moments to shine: from David Patrick Kelly playing an overly brusk Michigan truck driver whose primary concern after learning that he has a son is that said son is not a "bitch-boy,"....to Richard Jenkins as a deeply insecure (for good reason apparently considering how his younger partner carries on) Secret Service agent who never leaves his firearm at home even when on vacation....to Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda in great 3rd act acid turns as the Schlichtings’s, former hippies who did jail time for the manufacture of LSD which they still do out of their own home but they draw the line at allowing any one to smoke. ;) 

And that's not even including Glenn Fitzgerald as LONNIE who manages to even steal the film from Alda and Tomlin (no small feat) as their theatrical creeper of a son who not only cooks a mean quale but giddily doses it with 2.5 tabs of "window pane" (as he refers to it) as a welcome gift for his prospective new brother! The cast and the wack-job characters they are given to play is just an embarrassment of riches for a relatively simple story that amazingly never loses focus. 

And of course Stiller, Patricia Arquette and Tea Leoni are the three main leads who each bring a unique energy to the proceedings - each of them shine in funny but also somewhat sympathetic roles as folks who are still relatable despite the increasingly crazy shit they find themselves embroiled in. 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):

As this film is just SO dialogue-driven, I can’t say that music actually plays much of a key role…which is fine and the soundtrack itself generally works, an eclectic mix of ‘50’s pop/lounge music and ‘90’s alternative rock including Cake, Southern Culture on the Skids, Dean Martin, and Carl Perkins.  However among the various needle-drops we hear, one always stood out to me as I’m PRETTY sure it’s the only one used during a montage and it’s just a fun song….and it comes to us from an alternative rock band who were contemporaries of Pearl Jam and Nirvana, even opened for both bands at different points on different tours.  But they never really achieved that level of superstardom.  However two years prior to this, they DID inadvertently contribute one of THE most ICONIC needle-drops for possibly this era’s most ICONIC film.,..and I say inadvertently because this was just a B-side of theirs and a cover of a Neil Diamond song no less.  Maybe you’ve heard this one before? (Audio clip) 

Yes I’m referring to Chicago’s OWN guitar-heavy rock collective lead by Nash Kato and Eddie Roeser….URGE OVERKILL.  They definitely put out some bangers throughout the ‘90’s and you would OCCASSIONALY hear them pop up on modern rock radio.  Well one of their more memorable songs is heard about a third into the film as the Copelands begin their cross-country adventure, I believe we hear this as they’re driving on the highway…..it’s a great roadtrip song!  I’m never particularly good at describing music but let’s just say that it has that raucous Chicago bar-rock vibe but with different accents, this could have just has easily been performed by the Kinks during their British Invasion heyday.  From their ’95 album, “Exit the Dragon” this track is the eminently catchy, “Somebody Else’s Body.” (Audio clip)   

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

David O. Russell…..SIGN…..man….back in the ‘90’s, I thought this guy had the goods as a truly offbeat gifted auteur, he could have become the next Jonathan Demme.  His follow-up to this was the very strong Three Kings, a semi-satirical Gulf War drama featuring stellar performances from George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube.  And then?  I don’t know….he’s made some GOOD but flawed films since then, many of which won Oscars too for their cast members.  The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle….a too-young Jennifer Lawrence became his muse to play several roles which she was at LEAST ten years too young to play…..and his reputation as an abusive asshole on-set just grew and grew.  It was the TEXTBOOK definition of a talented individual starting to believe his own hype and latching on the bandwagon of Jennifer Lawrence’s stardom at just the right time probably prolonged his success longer than he deserved.  There’s obviously a lot more to it but bottom line, among the breakout directing talents from the ‘90’s who would eventually disappoint me the most with their own personal bullshit, he is RIGHT up there with Bryan Singer….just a shame. 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

This movie is pretty much an endless 90 minute stream of interactions, situations, and gags MOST of which land perfectly…..I found it just SO hard to pinpoint the funniest moment, the funniest line, or EVEN the funniest character.  So instead, I will choose the most PROFOUND moment and it occurs towards the end just when things are REALLY starting to get crazy – we’re cutting between the Schlichting’s trying to bring back Jenkins’ Paul from his acid-induced trip, Josh Brolin’s Agent Kent and Patricia Arquette’s Nancy ATTEMPTING AWKWARDLY to have an affair somewhere upstairs, and Stiller’s Mel and Tea Leoni’s Tina about consummate THEIRS in another room as well…..it’s all very mad-cap and farcical, it’s cooking…..and then BOOM.  Tina comes to her senses and explains how she doesn’t want to be a homewrecker and then utters one of THE best lines ever uttered about marriage on-screen.  And after she says this, the movie just STARTS to calm down….well sorta….but it sets everything on the straight and narrow path from that point on.  Just DAMN good writing and also proof of just how underrated an actress Tea Leoni has always been. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

And so back to Russell….he also wrote the screenplay for this and it's still impressive how he walks such a thin line tonally between "edgy" and just going full-on mean-spirited with no real punchline....post Pulp Fiction and Clerks, the '90's were just overloaded with smaller indie films or studio comedies which tried to achieve that balance - Very Bad Things, Mr. Wrong, Happy Texas, Saving Silverman - and often failed miserably. :/ Flirting With Disaster is that rare comedy gem that just full-on DIVES into the absurd pool and manages to never belly-flop!

And as much as he became a true let-down later in his career, I just cannot deny what he accomplished here juggling so many different characters and veering SO far into farce without losing sight of a clearcut central theme which I think STILL resonates today: Family isn’t always who we’re born to.  As far as I’m concerned – and I know that many would disagree – THIS remains his masterpiece and for that reason, David O. Russell is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5 

Streaming on HBO Max, fubo, kanopy, & hoopla

Happy 30th Anniversary to one of the funniest films of the ‘90’s…..and let’s be clear too for the Stiller-heads out there: THIS film walked so that future smashes like There’s Something About Mary and Meet the Parents could run. 

And that ends another….VIVID I’M SEEING COLORS THAT I DON’T WANT TO SEE….review!