Review of Flirting with Disaster

While I did enjoy this film for the most part I did grow a little tiresome of some of the dialogue and situations while the film was winding down. I'm glad the film is just under 90 minutes because if it went on any longer it definitely would have overstayed its welcome. Story has a man named Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) who is trying to locate his birth parents and his adoption agent (Tea Leoni) thinks she has located them. Mel and his wife Nancy (Patricia Arquette) and their newborn hit the road first to San Diego where they think his mother lives. Mels adoption agent comes along so she can record Mel reuniting with his parents with a video camera. One of the volleyball girls is model Beth Ostrosky. Well, the woman in San Diego isn't his mother and then they go to Michigan where they think his father is. Eventually two gay cops come along for the ride and one of them is attracted to Nancy. The dialogue is reminiscent of Robert Altman's films and at times it seems improvised. One of the unique things that stand out in this film is the casting. George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore play Mels adoptive parents and Moore's character is very overbearing. She never stops talking and it reminds everyone that Moore is a good actress. ****SPOILER ALERT**** Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin play Mels birth parents and they seem fine at first but everyone eventually finds out that they still take a lot of drugs! The casting is unique because some of these actors seem to be playing the opposite of their persona. Its fun to watch! But I did find that the dialogue grew old with characters stepping on each others lines which is what happens when actors improvise. Another thing that I found tiresome after a while was Josh Brolin as one of the gay cops as he butts into Mel and Nancy's marriage without any respect at all. I kept expecting Mel to finally tell this guy to mind his own business. Film has a low budget feel and the cinematography is really not very good. It looks like a docu-drama and for a film thats shot at various places of this country it doesn't have one good shot in any location. David O. Russell is a good filmmaker and I thought "Spanking the Monkey" was a very interesting film and while I did enjoy this comedy, I wish it had more of a focal point. Mel and Nancy decide that they should be together but how did they arrive at this conclusion? Witty dialogue and some eyebrow raised casting make this entertaining to watch but I wish Russell had a more serious intent.