FeatureR1996·93m·6.2

Flirting with Disaster

A comedy about sex, love, family and other accidents waiting to happen.

Comedy

Adopted as a child, new father Mel Colpin decides he cannot name his son until he knows his birth parents, and determines to make a cross-country quest to find them. Accompanied by his wife, Nancy, and an inept yet gorgeous adoption agent, Tina, he departs on an epic road trip that quickly devolves into a farce of mistaken identities, wrong turns, and overzealous and love-struck ATF agents.

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Cast

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

Tony Kent

Celia Weston

Valerie Swaney

Glenn Fitzgerald

Lonnie Schlichting

Beth Stern

Jane

Cynthia Lamontagne

Sandra

David Patrick Kelly

Fritz Boudreau

John Ford Noonan

Mitch

Charlet Oberly

B&B Lady

Nadia Dajani

Jill

Don Creech

Cop #1

Clarke Bittner

Cop #2

Tony Kruk

Detective

Details

Status: Released
Original language: English
Languages: English
Budget: $7.0M
Revenue: $14.7M
Age rating: R
Quality: 4K UHD · HDR10 · Dolby Vision
Production: MiramaxDean Silvers Productions

Crew

Director

David O. Russell

Writers

David O. Russell

Eric Alan Edwards

Director of Photography

Christopher Tellefsen

Editor

Stephen Endelman

Original Music Composer

Kevin Thompson

Production Design

Ellen Lutter

Costume Design

Gallery

Reviews

AlfaVitaY2K

7/5/2026

10.0

The last great classic comedy of situations. They don’t make them like this anymore, because talented writers have left Hollywood after it switched from creating art to ideological propaganda bullshit in XXI century. Flirting with Disaster isn't just a funny 90s movie. You are witnessing the end of an era. It stands as the last true classic Comedy of Situations—a brilliant subgenre that has completely vanished from modern Hollywood. Unlike a standard sitcom or a joke-heavy spoof, a classic comedy of situations relies on a domino effect of escalating plot complications. This brilliant awkwardness works for fans of uncomfortable comedy, but is harder for a general audience to connect, who prefer the simplicity of There's Something About Mary (1998).