Fresh
David O. Russell has a twisted mind; I like that in a man.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Flirting with Disaster
A comedy about sex, love, family and other accidents waiting to happen.
1996 · 1h 33m · R
Comedy
Directed by
David O. Russell
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Flirting with Disaster
Overview
Adopted as a child, new father Mel Colpin 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, and an inept yet gorgeous adoption agent, Tina, 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.
Director and cast
- David O. Russell Director
- Ben Stiller as Mel Coplin
- Patricia Arquette as Nancy Coplin
- Téa Leoni as Tina Kalb
- Mary Tyler Moore as Pearl Coplin
- George Segal as Ed Coplin
- Alan Alda as Richard Schlichting
- Lily Tomlin as Mary Schlichting
- Josh Brolin as Tomy Kent
- Richard Jenkins as Paul Harmon
- Celia Weston Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
87%
Tomatometer
Fresh
This whacked-out road comedy about a young man's search for his real parents takes any number of unexpected turns, most of them bitingly funny.
Todd McCarthy, Variety
Fresh
There are conventions in this sort of story, and Russell seems to violate most of them. He allows the peculiarities of his characters to lead them away from the plot line and into perplexities of their own.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh
Hang on and prepare to laugh continually.
Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
Fresh
The perpetual motion is a deliciously hysterical rush. This offbeat, documentary-like comedy becomes geometrically funnier as it goes along.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
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