Review of Flirting with Disaster (1996) by Ryan D — 27 Nov 2004

A screwball comedy from the director of [i]I Heart Huckabees[/i].

[b]David O. Russell[/b] first hit the independent film scene with [i]Spanking the Monkey[/i], a dark, dark comedy starring [b]Jeremy Davies[/b] as a young man spending the summer taking care of his attractive, bedridden mother, and the incest that occurs. It's not a great movie, but it WAS bizarre and pretty funny, particularly Davies' performance.

Russell followed that film with [i][b]Flirting With Disaster[/b][/i], an ensemble comedy about a man ([b]Ben Stiller[/b]), and his desire to find his biological parents. The cast is extensive and impressive: [b]Patricia Arquette[/b] is the wife, [b]Tea[/b] [b]Leoni[/b] is the adoption agency employee documenting Ben Stiller's quest, [b]Mary Tyler Moore[/b] and [b]George Segal[/b] are Ben Stiller's adoptive parents, [b]Josh Brolin[/b] is an FBI officer, [b]Lily Tomlin[/b] and [b]Alan Alda[/b] are Ben Stiller's real parents. All of these characters interact in crazy ways, entering and exiting the film as events spiral humorously out of control.

[After [i]Flirting With Disaster[/i], [b]David O. Russell[/b] directed [i]Three Kings[/i], which was purportedly a rough shoot. [b]George Clooney[/b] and Russell apparently got into a shouting match on set, in front of all these people, cause Russell got mad and chewed out an extra in a really mean way. Clooney came to the defense of the extra, and the whole situation was reported about in the trade publications. Clooney later admitted that he clashed extensively with Russell on set, that they argued quite a bit during the shoot. Apparently Russell didn't alienate ALL of his actors though, since [b]Mark Wahlberg[/b] decided to work with Russell again on [i]I Heart Huckabees[/i]. However, Clooney was pretty vocal in the press, and I've always wondered if Clooney's clout was one reason why the filmmaker hasn't worked since [i]Three Kings'[/i] 1999 release.].

[i]Flirting With Disaster[/i] is funny as all hell, but a little too wacky for some. (I watched it over Thanksgiving with my parents, and although my dad laughed wholeheartedly during much of the film, as it concluded, all he could proffer was the word, "Bizarre.") There are several priceless scenes: the entire Bread and Breakfast scene was hysterical, featuring the "evil little dwarf" lady; the dinner scene near the end of the film was also a laugh riot, for reasons I won't bother to share, so as not to ruin anyone's viewing experience. All I can say is that it involved "windowpane" and gave me the giggles.

In my opinion, this is Ben Stiller's funniest performance in a movie, and unfortunately, it's a very underseen film.

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[i][Note: In an attempt to add more of a personal element to this blog, I will attempt to record a few aspects of my life at work and home in each entry, beginning now. This may sound tedious to some, and it almost certainly will be, but I've been slacking off on [/i]personal[i] journal writing for the last 6 months or so, and this seems the best way to get back on track. Be warned: my life is about as exciting as an opera after 4 Tylenol PMs.][/i].

Three of my younger siblings are grown and married. My one remaining single sibling is on a Mormon mission in Mexico. This makes for some frustratingly oblique holiday get-togethers. My parents are way too eager to please everyone, and therefore, we are doing Thanksgiving tomorrow, Sunday, so that my brother's and sister can be with their inlaws. This is very accommodating, but when the actual holiday occurs, I have a tendency to feel a little let down unless I get the chance to see all of my siblings. On Thanksgiving I went with my parents and uncle to the Little America Thanksgiving Brunch, which I guess is sort of a big deal, if the myriad people standing in line were any indication. I'll bet there were at least 500 people crammed into two large ballrooms, and gigantic spreads of Thanksgiving food were strewn everywhere. Some families came in groups of 20, which, at $30 a ticket, seemed financially exorbitant. The food was spectacular, but again, I'm single and therefore long for familial attention during the holidays, and it was kind of a letdown not seeing all of my extended family on Thanksgiving Day.

My mom humbly requested that I attend church with the family this Sunday, tomorrow, which I consented to, hesitantly. She went on and on about how she only wanted me at church because the rest of the family was going, and she was excited to have the WHOLE FAMILY there (you'd have to know my mom to be able to picture her, fists clenched, eyes wet and swimming, declaring her enthusiasm: the WHOLE FAMILY at church; miracle of miracles!). Well, I know I'm the black sheep of the family, but I didn't want to be the one person to thwart my mom's "whole family" fantasy (the logic being, my youngest brother is on a mission, which is like 2 years of church, so if everyone else goes on Sunday, it WILL be like we are all at church at the same time), so you know, I try to be a fleecy white sheep when I can.

There was some argument concerning the family Christmas schedule. In my family there is a tradition where we go to Barnes and Noble on Christmas Eve and my parents buy each child a book of their choice. Well, my sisters-in-law tried their hardest to get the schedule rearranged to suit their needs, even offering such obtuse suggestions as maybe doing the whole Christmas Eve thing on the 23rd, or maybe the 26th. Oh, what the hell, why don't we just do our little family celebration on the 15th of January, or wait till Martin Luther King Day, when everyone's off work. It got kind of absurd, with my parents bending over backwards to try to accommodate everyone. In the end, they decided to just go to Barnes and Noble at 3pm on Christmas Eve, and whoever could come would come, and that's that. But I predict there will still be a little bit of whining, and I know for a fact I will see very little of my married siblings on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as they spend time with their spouses' families, which is a disappointment.

We also drew names and I drew my dad's name. I feel like I'm a good gift-buyer, and I like buying for my dad (he's usually my favorite person to shop for come the holidays), so I've been racking my brain trying to think of a good gift. My dad is one of those guys who pretty much buys things he wants, like DVDs or electronics, so if you think of something he wants, he probably already has it, or will soon. He's been following ASU football pretty intently this season, so maybe I can get him a jersey or a hat or a sweatshirt or something. That's the kind of thing he would never buy for himself.

Anyway, I'm still giving it some thought.