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IMDbPro

Flirter avec les embrouilles

Original title: Flirting with Disaster
  • 1996
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
21K
YOUR RATING
Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Mary Tyler Moore, and Ben Stiller in Flirter avec les embrouilles (1996)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:57
2 Videos
52 Photos
Dark ComedyRoad TripComedy

A young man, his wife, and his incompetent case worker travel across country to find his birth parents.A young man, his wife, and his incompetent case worker travel across country to find his birth parents.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
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    21K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • David O. Russell
    • Writer
      • David O. Russell
    • Stars
      • Ben Stiller
      • Patricia Arquette
      • Téa Leoni
    • 122User reviews
    • 44Critic reviews
    • 82Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 10 nominations total

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:57
    Official Trailer
    Flirting With Disaster
    Trailer 1:53
    Flirting With Disaster
    Flirting With Disaster
    Trailer 1:53
    Flirting With Disaster

    Photos52

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    Top cast27

    Edit
    Ben Stiller
    Ben Stiller
    • Mel Coplin
    Patricia Arquette
    Patricia Arquette
    • Nancy Coplin
    Téa Leoni
    Téa Leoni
    • Tina Kalb
    Mary Tyler Moore
    Mary Tyler Moore
    • Pearl Coplin
    George Segal
    George Segal
    • Ed Coplin
    Alan Alda
    Alan Alda
    • Richard Schlichting
    Lily Tomlin
    Lily Tomlin
    • Mary Schlichting
    Richard Jenkins
    Richard Jenkins
    • Paul Harmon
    Josh Brolin
    Josh Brolin
    • Agent Tony Kent
    Celia Weston
    Celia Weston
    • Valerie Swaney
    Glenn Fitzgerald
    Glenn Fitzgerald
    • Lonnie Schlichting
    Beth Stern
    Beth Stern
    • Jane
    • (as Beth Ostrosky)
    Cynthia LaMontagne
    Cynthia LaMontagne
    • Sandra
    • (as Cynthia Lamontagne)
    David Patrick Kelly
    David Patrick Kelly
    • Fritz Boudreau
    John Ford Noonan
    John Ford Noonan
    • Mitch
    Charlet Oberly
    • B&B Lady
    Nadia Dajani
    Nadia Dajani
    • Jill
    Don Creech
    Don Creech
    • Cop #1
    • Director
      • David O. Russell
    • Writer
      • David O. Russell
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews122

    6.720.6K
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    Featured reviews

    george.schmidt

    Outstanding black comedy; one of Stiller's best

    FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (1996) **** Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, Alan Alda, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Lily Tomlin, Richard Jenkins, Josh Brolin. Hilarious and wickedly sharp satire about a young man (Stiller in a memorable turn) searching for his identity by trying to locate his biological parents while alienating his neglected and lovely wife (the yummy Arquette) and Leoni (simply wonderful) as his adoption broker. Fine ensemble cast (especially Moore in an inconoclastic poke at her image) and Alda (ditto). Subversive good, clean fun and seriously dysfunctional family values (thank God!) from filmmaker David O. Russell beating the Sophomore Jinx (in this his second turn at the helm).
    bob the moo

    Amusing with well written characters making it more than a road movie farce

    Mel Coplin has a child with Nancy but has yet to name him because Mel feels he cannot give a name until he has met his real parents. Mel approaches the adoption agency and meets Tina, who wants to go with Mel as he meets his parents. Mel, Nancy, Tina and the baby set out on a road trip to met Mel's mother. However when he finds that the agency has made a mistake it sparks a wider search for his real parents.

    I taped this film because I have seen several other films by the same director and wanted to give this a shot on the strength of those works. I knew it was a comedy but had no other notion what it was about. At first the plot is worrying because it looks like a dumb road trip movie, however the characters and plot ensure it is more than just that. The plot is basically nothing more than a device for the characters to be themselves and provide the comedy themselves rather than just trough action. The comedy does also work through actions but many of the characters are well enough written to be funny within themselves.

    The acting is good on the whole. Stiller gives his usual performance that will be familiar to anyone who has seen Cable Guy, Meet The Parents etc. Arquette is OK and Leoni is sexy if pretty uninteresting. Jenkins steals every scene he is in as the uptight cop. And on that point, how very refreshing to see gay characters in a comedy who aren't flaming stereotypes! Alda, Tomlin, Tyler Moore and Segal are all hilarious in their parental roles and do much more than just provide famous faces.

    Overall I found this to be very amusing if not hilarious. The plot holds up well for a road movie but it's the well written characters who carry the majority of the film easily and regularly funny even if it is a little far fetched at points.
    8BigJimNoFool

    Proper hearty belly laughs

    Did not expect to laugh so much i have to say for a film that i had no idea existed and was made 24 years ago.

    What got me interested was it being a David O Russell film i had not seen and his stuff i had seen was consistenly very good.

    Dysfunction brought to the extreme. The line that best sums up this film would be "you come in here and lick my wife's armpit"

    Excellent, cheered me right up it has!
    7secondtake

    A man stumbles and bumbles his way to his zany biological parents...screwball almost!

    Flirting with Disaster (1996)

    This is one of those movies that's just plain stupid in such a funny way you'll likely laugh out loud a lot. And you'll finish thinking it's a pretty stupid movie. The ending in particular makes you wonder what all the build up was about since it diffuses, as if the writers ran out of conflicts (or solutions) and raised their hands in surrender.

    But on the way there is one funny gag after another. And a whole slew of excellent actors doing their zany best. Some of them have very brief (and contained) appearances, for sure--Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda, for example, in a hilarious section of the movie with little connection to the rest of it. In fact, the whole movie is broken into spasmodic sections, held together mostly by the three leading leads (there are lots of main characters): Ben Stiller (looking for his biological parents), Patricia Arquette (his suffering, sweet wife), and Tea Leoni (the mentally incomplete but skinny and sexy interloper).

    Stiller isn't actually totally funny by himself, but acts like more of a foil for all the crazy things happening around him (this is his style on purpose, a kind of regular guy in an irregular world). Arquette is almost too normal for this abnormal world, but that's fine, she's likable, and is meant to be the loving wife who doesn't quite know how zany the events around her are. At first. Leoni has a terrific way of making nutty faces and being just slightly insane without being just stupid (the way Will Ferrell is just stupid in a different kind of humor).

    There are gay jokes and jokes about LSD and a general playing of an ultra-licentious world against what seems to be a normal human desire to connect with your genetic parents, unknown to you. The mistakes along the way are what make it hilarious. Until the end, where it maybe is trying to say, "Oh well, everything is okay in a world where anything goes." Sure. Pop the big bubble, but on the way it's a gas. No pun intended.
    tedg

    Doesn't Belong

    I'm amazed at how much context matters when watching movies. I saw this when it was new and was impressed at how gently it moved. It wasn't frantic. It didn't rely on penis and excrement jokes. It mentions Jews comically but doesn't get mean. It deals with relationships straightforwardly: the humor from this end coming from our unease at natural misfits.

    In short, it is everything that the "Fockers" movies aren't. I went back and watched it simply out of protest, out of feeling slimy from having to encounter them again.

    And I was shocked that it seemed too slow until the third act. Part of the problem was that I knew where it was going, and much of the development depends on you having the same insecurity about the future as Stiller's character. But the larger part was simply that subtle, soft humor may be dead, even for someone like me who thrives on the slight brush.

    Perhaps now "50 First Dates" is as soft as we can get these days.

    I urge you to see this for a dive into gentle humor, even though it may be too faded. Screwball keeps. This stuff doesn't. It is a film that doesn't belong about a man who doesn't.

    Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to Lily Tomlin, Ben Stiller and David O. Russell did not get along and had many heated arguments.
    • Goofs
      Cameraman visible in mirror in detectives office.
    • Quotes

      Mr. Coplin: San Diego has a big carjacking problem. They bump you, and when you stop, they mutilate you and take your car.

    • 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
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Diabolique/It's My Party/Flirting with Disaster/Girl 6/Little Indian, Big City (1996)
    • Soundtracks
      Anything But Love
      Written by Don Raleigh/Squirrel Nut Zippers

      Performed by Squirrel Nut Zippers

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    FAQ20

    • How long is Flirting with Disaster?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 5, 1996 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Flirting with Disaster
    • Filming locations
      • Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
    • Production company
      • Miramax
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $7,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $14,702,438
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $164,458
      • Mar 24, 1996
    • Gross worldwide
      • $14,702,438
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 32m(92 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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