Opening

76% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
25% The Hangover Part III May 23
72% Epic May 24
97% Before Midnight May 24
73% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
82% Fill the Void May 24
—— A Green Story May 24
—— Alyce Kills May 24

Top Box Office

86% Star Trek Into Darkness $70.2M
78% Iron Man 3 $35.8M
50% The Great Gatsby $23.9M
46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
55% Oblivion $2.3M
98% Mud $2.2M
36% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
89% The East May 31
Flirting With Disaster

Flirting With Disaster (1996)

tomatometer

86

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 37 | Rotten: 6

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

100

Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 0

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

audience

65

liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 8,665

My Rating

Movie Info

In this satirical comedy, Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) has a beautiful wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and a four-month old son, and on the surface his life is good. But something's been troubling him: Mel knows he was adopted, and he can't resolve his issues with the mother who gave him away years ago, much to the annoyance of his adoptive parents (George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore). Mel decides it's time he met his birth parents and resolved his feelings once and for all, and Tina (Tea Leoni), a

R,

Comedy

David O. Russell

Jun 15, 1999

Miramax Films

Watch It Now

Cast

ADVERTISEMENT

All Critics (60) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (6) | DVD (16)

Dark comedy about family includes some sexy stuff and drugs.

September 29, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

Entertainment for the whole dysfunctional family.

February 13, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

Boasting a clever title, this is an inspired piece of lunacy about sociology versus biology, with terrific performances from Ben Stiller and his two sets of parents.

June 27, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comments (2)
EmanuelLevy.Com

When I caught this modern-day screwball comedy in theaters I didn't think much of it, and it's even less appealing now.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comments (4)
Combustible Celluloid

One Stiller movie I actually enjoyed.

August 14, 2004
FilmsInReview.com

If Russell is erratic with plot and the slightest bit smug in attitude, he makes up for these flaws by drawing fun, inspired performances from his ace cast.

July 30, 2004 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks
Nick's Flick Picks

Avoiding the safety of the PC blanket, David O. Russell has crafted a canny, crafty and altogether adorable little misfit of a movie.

July 1, 2004 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

Wild, funny and smart.

May 27, 2004 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Outstanding, uproariously funny dark comedy

April 2, 2004
Kalamazoo Gazette

Audience Reviews for Flirting With Disaster

Lonnie Schlichting: I'm sorry that I put windowpane in Mel's quail, and I'm sorry that you ate it. 

"Have you flirted yet?"

I absolutely loved Flirting with Disaster. It is almost a picture perfect comedy. I'll admit that I didn't think it was going to be as funny as it was, but once I turned it on; it was nonstop hilarious. I'm not the biggest fan of anyone in this cast, but they were all marvelous here. I like Ben Stiller to a degree, but he isn't what I think of when I think of extremely funny guys. Arquette and Leoni are also not two of my favorite actresses, but their presence in this one was great. Also, Josh Brolin is pretty funny as well. There's a good supporting cast including the likes of Mary Tyler Moore and Alan Alda. 

So, Flirting with Disaster is about Mel, a married man with a baby that hasn't been named yet. He's the product of adoption and he wants to know where his "roots" are, much to the chagrin of his adoptive parents. When a case worker said she has located his mother in San Diego, the couple, their baby and the case worker take off for San Diego. Well, the case worker was wrong. It isn't his mother. Then they take off to Michigan on another lead, and finally end up in New Mexico. Along the way they pick up a bi-sexual federal agent who went to school with Mel's wife and his also federal agent man lover. They deal with a B&B, a truck accident, and an accidental LSD trip; and it is all hilarious. 

I haven't seen too many movies from David O. Russell. I always mean to watch some of his films, but I haven't really got around to it. Both the films I've seen from him, I've loved. The Fighter and now, Flirting with Disaster, while completely different, are both extremely well written and directed by Russell. I love the kind of screwball, quirky way this movie moves from one comedic scene to another. I would never call it a screwball comedy, but it definitely has screwball elements. I would also never call it a purely quirky film, but there are moments of quirk. 

Flirting with Disaster was a fun movie and actually quite a surprise. I really did fall in love with it quickly. The dialogue is great and the chemistry between all the actors is great. Russell really got everything out of every performance just as he did recently with The Fighter. This is a great little hybrid between family drama, road movie, and screwball comedy, and Russell mixes all the elements together to make for an extremely pleasing experience.
July 28, 2012
blkbomb
Melvin White

Super Reviewer

Flirting With Disarter is a creative dark comedy with different themes, but that David O. Russell can make a funny and terrific film. Fresh.
March 19, 2012
Lucas Martins

Super Reviewer

No quotes approved yet for Flirting With Disaster. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Discussion Forum

There are no discussion threads for Flirting With Disaster yet.

Latest News on Flirting With Disaster

June 24, 2005:
Have Some Early "Fun with Dick and Jane"
MovieFone brings us a 6-month-early sneak peek at the Jim Carrey ("The Mask") / Tea Leoni...

Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile