Written and directed by David O. Russell, Flirting with Disaster is the story of a man who goes on a road trip with his wife and newborn baby to find his biological parents with the help of an adoption agency employee as others join in on the search. The film is an offbeat comedy that plays into a man’s need to find his real parents as he copes with idea of parenthood as well as his own marriage as he becomes attracted towards the adoption agency employee. Starring Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Glenn Fitzgerald, Alan Alda, and Lily Tomlin. Flirting with Disaster is a witty and whimsical film from David O. Russell.
The film is the simple story of a neurotic man whose inability to name his newborn child forces him to try and find his biological parents to find out who he is as he is aided by an adopted agency employee whom he becomes attracted to. It plays into a man in his search for his own identity and roots where he is joined by his wife on a trip to find his real parents but bad information and incompetence lead to several setbacks with others joining this man’s adventure to find his real parents. David O. Russell’s screenplay has a unique narrative structure as it follows the journey of Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) who is given news that the identity of his biological mother has been found. Mel’s wife Nancy (Patricia Arquette) joins Mel out of support as she takes their newborn baby with them despite the protests of Mel’s adoptive parents in Ed and Pearl Coplin (George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore, respectively) who feel unhappy by the news. Joining them is the adoptive agency employee Tina (Tea Leoni) who wants to record the event as she and Mel become attracted to each other.
Russell’s direction does have elements of style in the way he captures the journey of a neurotic man as it is shot on various locations in New York City as well as parts of San Diego, Arizona, and a couple of places in Michigan such as Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. While there are moments where Russell would use wide shots for some of the locations and scenes that play into the characters inside a home which includes a key moment in the first act that has Mel meeting a woman who could be his mother. Much of Russell’s compositions would rely on medium shots and close-ups in the way characters interact including scenes that include Nancy’s old high school friend Tony Kent (Josh Brolin) who is an ATF agent with a partner both at work and in life in Paul Harmon (Richard Jenkins) as they both join the trip during its second half.
The film’s third act doesn’t just play into absurd humor but also in light drama as it relates to the tension that is looming in Mel and Nancy’s marriage with the former being attracted to Tina and the latter being nurtured by Tony. It also play into the eventual meeting of another prospect of who could be Mel’s real parents in Richard and Mary Schlichting (Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin, respectively) who also have a younger son in Lonnie (Glenn Fitzgerald) who is angry about the idea of having an older brother. The meeting would be a mixture of humor and chaos as well as an aftermath that would later involve all sorts of shenanigans and drama that is happening. Overall, Russell creates a witty yet exhilarating film about a man trying to find his identity in his search for his biological parents with others joining him in a chaotic journey.
Cinematographer Eric Alan Edwards does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward to play into the different looks of the location including the scenes in Michigan with its snow and the sunnier look of New Mexico in the daytime. Editor Christopher Tellefsen does brilliant work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts and other rhythmic cuts to play into the humor. Production designer Kevin Thompson, with art director Judy Rhee plus set decorators Susan Block and Ford Wheeler, does fantastic work with the look of the different homes that Mel and his entourage encounter from the home of a woman in San Diego with her glass figurines to the stylish home and art work of the couple he meets in New Mexico.
Costume designer Ellen Lutter does nice work with the costumes as it play into the personality of the characters from the casual look of Mel and Nancy to the sexy, business-like look of Tina and the more hippie look of the Schlichtings. Sound designer Wendy Hedin does terrific work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the different locations in the film. The film’s music by Stephen Endelman does wonderful work with the sound as it is largely low-key in its folk music presentation while music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg provides a fun soundtrack that mixes rock, pop, country, and alternative music from acts like Southern Culture on the Skids, Cake, Urge Overkill, Dr. John with Angela McCluskey, Dean Martin, Inch, Carl Perkins, and the Grateful Dead.
The casting by Risa Bramon Garcia and Ellen Parks is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Cynthia LaMontagne and Beth Stern as twin women who are the daughters of a woman in San Diego, David Patrick Kelly as a trucker in Michigan who might be Mel’s father, Celia Weston as Valerie Swaney as the woman from San Diego who might be Mel’s mother, and Glenn Fitzgerald as Lonnie Schlichting as a young man who might be Mel’s brother who doesn’t like Mel at all as he’s overly rude and jealous towards him. Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin are fantastic in their respective roles as Richard and Mary Schlichting as a couple from New Mexico who might be Mel’s biological parents as they’re hippie artists that are fascinated by Mel while being those who prefer to live a life of isolation away from the conventions of society. Richard Jenkins and Josh Brolin are superb in their respective roles as the ATF agents Paul Harmon and Tony Kent as a gay couple who join Mel and his entourage in the journey with Jenkins as the more reluctant of the duo as he would later have a bad encounter with drugs while Brolin is more carefree as he tries to renew his friendship with Nancy in odd ways.
Mary Tyler Moore and George Segal are excellent in their respective roles as Mel’s adoptive parents in Pearl and Ed Coplin with Moore being very funny in dealing with her son’s neuroses and wear some skimpy yet sexy underwear while Segal is more low-key as someone who is just as neurotic as Mel. Tea Leoni is brilliant as Tina Kalb as a recently-divorced adoption agency employee who wants to document Mel’s reunion with his biological parents as she becomes attracted to Mel only to realize that she’s hiding her own issues as it relates to her incompetence and failure in life. Patricia Arquette is amazing as Nancy Coplin as Mel’s wife who joins him on the journey as she finds herself neglected forcing her to turn to Tony for attention with weird results. Finally, there’s Ben Stiller in a remarkable performance as Mel Coplin as a man who is eager to find out who his parents are as it play into his anxiety over who he is and his inability to name his newborn son that would also prompt him to be attractive towards Tina that would become chaotic as it’s a witty performance from Stiller.
Flirting with Disaster is an incredible film from David O. Russell. Featuring a great cast, an offbeat yet funny premise, and its study of identity and anxiety. It’s a film that play into some of ideas of a man’s journey that would devolve into chaos as well as revelations about himself. In the end, Flirting with Disaster is a sensational film from David O. Russell.
David O. Russell Films: Spanking the Monkey – Three Kings - I Heart Huckabees – The Fighter - Silver Linings Playbook - American Hustle - Accidental Love - Joy (2015 film) - The Auteurs #70: David O. Russell
© thevoid99 2018
Based on the novel by Judith Guest, Ordinary People is the story of a upper-middle class family who copes with the loss of their son while his younger brother deals with survivor’s guilt as he returns home from the hospital. Directed by Robert Redford and screenplay by Alvin Sargent, the film is an exploration of a family dealing with loss as well as a young man wondering about his own role in his family and his relationship with his own parents. Starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth McGovern, and Judd Hirsch. Ordinary People is a somber yet engaging film from Robert Redford.
The film is the story of a family reeling from the aftermath of the death of a son as well as the suicide attempt of another as they try to move on as if nothing is happening yet the surviving son still copes with survivor’s guilt. It’s a film that explores a family that slowly unravels as they’re forced to see things and reflect on aspects of their life. The film’s screenplay by Alvin Sargent is quite straightforward as it largely takes place during the autumn season in an upper-middle class suburbia near Chicago where its 18-year old son Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton) has just got out of the hospital for a month as he returns to school trying to get back to his normal routine before his brother’s death and suicide attempt. Yet, he’s become withdrawn and unable to do what he’s done in the past while he’s having a harder time trying to express himself emotionally with his mother Beth (Mary Tyler Moore). For his father Calvin (Donald Sutherland), he is concerned for Conrad’s well-being as well as try to keep everything calm.
Conrad would turn to a psychiatrist in Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch) for answers but finds himself not only dealing with memories of the boating accident that killed his brother Buck (Scott Doebler). He also copes with the fact that he’s still alive which hasn’t made him deal with things as easy as he wants to be. The script is really noted for its development as Conrad is just someone that is trying to make sense of everything he’s feeling as he would quit the swim team and befriend a young classmate in Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern) who would give him a bit of hope. Yet, it’s at home where things become difficult where his mother remains cold and distant as she’s trying to maintain some sense of normalcy around family and friends. For Calvin, he tries to understand what his son is feeling and why his wife has been reacting at things where he eventually comes to realize that something is wrong as he becomes aware that not everything is alright. Even as Beth would snap him for talking about Conrad and their situation to family and friends as it show cracks starting to emerge.
Robert Redford’s direction is actually quite simple in terms of the compositions he creates as he doesn’t really go for any kind of flashy visuals in favor of just doing something that is direct and to the point. Shot on location in Lake Forest, Illinois and parts of Chicago, the film does play into the world of suburbia where everything looks nice and everyone is perfect which is really a façade. There are some wide shots that Redford uses yet his approach to medium shots and close-up add a lot to the drama from the sessions that Conrad would have with Dr. Berger or the moments involving the family. There are also flashbacks that would appear every now and then such as the boating accident but also time of the family before Buck’s death and Conrad’s suicide attempt. Those are the few moments in the film where Redford would show some aspect of style as it has a mixture of fantasy but also terror as it relates to the tragedy the Jarrett family is dealing with. Some of these flashbacks play into happier times where both Conrad and Calvin reflect on as if it feels like a fantasy.
Redford also create moments that play into the family unit cracking with such subtlety such as a dinner party that Calvin and Beth attend where the former is talking with someone who asked about Conrad where Calvin was being honest but gracious as Beth overhears him. She would later scold him for talking about something that is private and again late in the film during a holiday vacation with Beth’s brother and wife as it play into many things Calvin starts to see. Even as he would eventually go to Dr. Berger for one session as it opens up into things he never thought about or had been in his mind for so long. The third act isn’t just about Conrad dealing with the pain over the loss of his brother but also Calvin having a revelation about his wife and what had been lost since the death of their eldest son. Overall, Redford crafts a somber yet evocative film about a family coming to terms with loss but also the realization that nothing can be the same ever again.
Cinematographer John Bailey does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography with emphasis on low-key lights and textures for some of the daytime exterior and interior scenes with the usage of lights for the scenes at night including a nighttime session Conrad has with Dr. Berger. Editor Jeff Kanew does brilliant work with the editing as it feature some jump-cuts and stylish flashback montages to play into the drama. Art directors J. Michael Riva and Brook Simons, with set decorators William B. Fosser and Jerry Wunderlich, do fantastic work with the look of the Jarrett home as well as the pool in Conrad‘s high school and Dr. Berger‘s office with its more quaint appliances.
Costume designer Bernie Pollack does nice work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward in terms of the casual look of Conrad as well as the more clean-cut and refined look of Calvin and Beth. Sound editor Kay Rose is terrific for the scenes involving swim meets and parties but also in the quieter moments at home as it play into the tension at home. The film’s music by Marvin Hamlisch is amazing as it is very a low-key orchestral score with some piano that play into the drama as the soundtrack also include a few classical pieces with Johann Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue in D as the opening and closing music piece of the film.
The casting by Penny Perry is great as it feature some notable small roles from Meg Mundy and Richard Whiting as Conrad’s grandparents, Scott Doebler as Conrad’s late older brother Buck, James B. Sikking as Calvin’s business colleague/friend Ray, Adam Baldwin as a teammate of Conrad in Kevin Stillman whom Conrad doesn’t really like, Fredric Lehne as Conrad’s best friend Joe who is trying to talk to him as he also misses Buck, and M. Emmet Walsh as Conrad’s swim coach Salan as someone who is wondering where Conrad’s head is at for the meets. Dinah Manoff is wonderful as Karen as someone Conrad met at the hospital as they meet to talk about their issues where she claims that she is doing great. Elizabeth McGovern is fantastic as Jeannine as a schoolmate of Conrad who befriends him as she provides some hope and kindness to Conrad. Judd Hirsch is excellent as Dr. Berger as a psychiatrist who is a very sympathetic figure that is trying to understand Conrad as well as not bullshit him about the ways of the world and things that Conrad needs to figure out.
Timothy Hutton is phenomenal as Conrad Jarrett as a young man dealing with survivor’s guilt and a suicide attempt as he tries to return to the world yet he is anguished and lost where Hutton show that sense of despair and loneliness as it is truly a breakthrough performance for the actor in his debut film role. Donald Sutherland is remarkable as Calvin Jarrett as a man trying to understand his son’s withdrawn behavior as well as dealing with the fact that he has some issues to face including his wife’s refusal to talk about some serious issues. Finally, there’s Mary Tyler Moore in a radiant performance as Beth Jarrett as a woman who is either in denial or refusing to face the things around her family in an attempt to try and move on as if nothing had happened as it’s a very eerie performance from Moore who plays a character that is very unlikable but also just as fragile as someone that isn’t ready to face the truth about herself.
Ordinary People is an incredible film from Robert Redford. Featuring a great cast and an entrancing portrait on grief, loss, and denial, it’s a film that explores a family dealing with life after loss and how those can’t face the truth about themselves and what was lost. In the end, Ordinary People is a tremendous film from Robert Redford.
Robert Redford Films: (The Milagro Beanfield War) - (A River Runs Through It) - (Quiz Show) - The Horse Whisperer - (The Legend of Bagger Vance) - (Lions for Lambs) - (The Conspirator) - (The Company You Keep)
© thevoid99 2017
