THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180108
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
``FLIRTING WITH Disaster'' is flirting, delightfully, with a screwball style of comedy that was in vogue in the heyday of such 1940s craftsmen as Preston Sturges. It takes us on a wild cross-country visit to an unlikely, but hilarious, group of eccentric and outright crazy characters.
It's a romp, from beginning to end.
Ben Stiller (son of veteran comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara) plays a husband and father who suddenly starts to wonder about who his real parents might have been.
His adoptive parents, Mary Tyler Moore and George Segal, think he's foolish to be so intense. As the aggressive, snooty mom, Moore effectively destroys her image by becoming a harridan. She even berates her poor daughter-in-law about getting a proper bra, bragging about the upkeep of her own bustline.
Stiller, accompanied by his moody wife and a shapely psychologist who wants to study him, fly to San Diego where they track down an amazon Republican woman suspected of being his real mom. The search continues to Michigan where a weirdo biker (David Patrick Kelly) leads him further astray. The biker escapade leads to the involvement of two federal agents, played by Richard Jenkins and Josh Brolin. These characters, Paul and Tony, turn out to be among the funniest in a merry menagerie.
Along the way, the psychologist (Tea Leoni), wears shorter and shorter miniskirts and tempts Stiller to wander a bit. His wife (the thankless role assigned to Patricia Arquette) attracts the attentions of the hunky member of the pursuing FBI.
All trails lead to the New Mexico home of Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin, who are the most logical biological parents.
This sexy, giddy rush of mixed identities and screwball antics almost goes too far, but thanks to David O. Russell's hip script, it pulls back just in time.
On the strength of a fine ensemble cast and relentless focus on broad laughs, ``Flirting With Disaster'' is one of the better comedies of the year.
It's well worth the trip that this wacky lot maps. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``Flirting With Disaster''
Cast: Ben Stiller, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Lily Tomlin, Alan
Alda, Tea Leoni, Patricia Arquette, Josh Brolin
Director and Writer: David O. Russell
Music: Stephen Endelman
MPAA rating: R (language, sexuality, a comic drug scene)
Mal's rating: ***1/2
Locations: Lynnhaven 8, Surf-N-Sand in Virginia Beach
by CNB