Flirting with Disaster (1996)

A young man, his wife, and his incompetent case worker travel across country to find his birth parents.

Director:

David O. Russell

Writer:

David O. Russell

Stars:

Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Stiller	...	Mel Coplin
Patricia Arquette	...	Nancy Coplin
Téa Leoni	...	Tina Kalb
Mary Tyler Moore	...	Pearl Coplin
George Segal	...	Ed Coplin
Alan Alda	...	Richard Schlichting
Lily Tomlin	...	Mary Schlichting
Richard Jenkins	...	Paul Harmon
Josh Brolin	...	Agent Tony Kent
Celia Weston	...	Valerie Swaney
Glenn Fitzgerald	...	Lonnie Schlichting
Beth Stern	...	Jane (as Beth Ostrosky)
Cynthia LaMontagne	...	Sandra (as Cynthia Lamontagne)
David Patrick Kelly	...	Fritz Boudreau
John Ford Noonan	...	Mitch

Storyline

Mel Coplin departs on a mission of discovery dragging his wife and 4 month old son behind. He and wife, Nancy, won't agree on a name for their son until adopted Mel gets in touch with his roots. He assures her that once he knows who he really is, the right name for their boy will be a snap. Enlisting the aid of student-psychologist and part-time adoption agent, Tina Kalb, they embark on a journey across the United States to find Mel's "birth" mother. "The best part," Mel tells Nancy, "is it's all free." Tina is finishing her dissertation and will film the happy reunion of mother and child as part of her research. For this privilege, she's footing the bill. His adoptive parents are left behind feeling abandoned by an ungrateful son. Clerical errors, mistaken identities, Nancy's misplaced high school friend and his gay lover, and a super-charged libido here and there are thrown into the mix along the way until -- at last -- Mel's real parents, the Schlictings (mispronounced as "...

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Plot Keywords:

road movie | husband wife relationship | overalls | dysfunctional family | truck | 

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Taglines:

Have you flirted yet?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexuality and a comic drug scene

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amori e disastri

Filming Locations:

Carefree, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,891,000, 31 December 1996

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Janeane Garofalo turned down the role of Tina Kalb.

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Goofs

The shots of airliners flying overhead (to symbolize the characters flying across the country) are Boeing 727s. By 1996 when this movie was made, 727's had long been taken out of passenger service.

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Quotes

Mel: You made LSD? Is that what you're saying?
Richard Schlichting: We made LSD.
Mary Schlichting: Yes, yes. We made acid.
Richard Schlichting: And we gave it out to people who needed it. You know that there are hundreds of pharmaceutical executives in this country... that are selling drugs, FDA approved drugs.
Mary Schlichting: On the open market.
Richard Schlichting: Over the counter with incredible side...
Mary Schlichting: Horrible side effects.
Richard Schlichting: Terrible side effects. And these people are not in jail.
Mary Schlichting: They're not in prison anywhere.
Richard Schlichting: They're, they're, they're in country clubs or playing golf. They're having ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The VHS and laserdisc versions (but not the DVD release) feature additional scenes during the end credits, not included in the original theatrical cut, showing the whereabouts of Tina and Tony and Paul.

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Connections

Referenced in The Middle: Flirting with Disaster (2015)

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Soundtracks

Melodie d'Amour(Cha Cha Cha Amour)
Written by Leo Johns and Henri Salvador
Performed by Dean Martin

User Reviews

Hilarious!

This movie is truly a masterpiece. The plot, the acting, the scenery...everything!

It is about Mel Coplin (Stiller) who is puzzled who he really is a couple months after his baby is born. He becomes addicted to the fact that he indeed doesn't know who he is. Finally, he receives information of where his birth mother is. He gets on a plane with his wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and the adoption agency associate that he is working with, Tina (Téa Leoni). Together they all fly to San Diego only to discover that there has been some terrible mistake--this woman in San Diego is not his birth mother.

Well, I won't ruin the rest of this hilarious and ongoing plot for you. I guarantee that you will laugh sometime in this movie...whether it is at the little old lady in the bed and breakfast, or when Tina maces the church workman in San Diego.