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 "...

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Have you flirted yet?

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexuality and a comic drug scene

Did You Know?

Trivia

Janeane Garofalo turned down the role of Tina Kalb.

---

Goofs

After Mel has crashed the truck and is at the police station, Paul and his partner leave the questioning room. When they re-enter the questioning room, Paul opens the door with his left hand. In the next shot, he is entering with a clipboard in his left hand.

---

Quotes

Valerie Swaney: All children break things. All children are forgiven. It's a gift from God.

---

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.

---

Connections

References Roots (1977)

---

Soundtracks

You Part the Waters
Written by John McCrea and Greg Brown
Performed by Cake

User Reviews

Obnoxiously unfunny

Why is it that people think grating, annoying, OBNOXIOUS characters are funny ? It's hard to laugh when you just want someone, ANYONE to smack those people up the back of the head as hard as they can. The dialogue goes nowhere, the scenes go nowhere and all in all you feel like you wasted 2 hours of your life watching something that might have worked as a Saturday Night Live skit. Avoid at all costs. I'm the type of person that can always find something redeeming in a film and there is NONE to be found here.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flirting with Disaster

Filming Locations:

Carefree, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$164,458, 24 March 1996

Gross USA:

$14,702,438

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,702,438

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1