The best damn thing David O Russell has ever done
He makes great movies but none has surpassed the awesomeness of Flirting w/ Disaster
shareWell, several of his films get higher ratings than this. However, considering that this is the only Russell film I've seen, I really don't have anything to compare it with. That being said, I consider Flirting with Disaster to be one of the very best comedies of the past 25-30 years. It's beyond me how it only gets a 6.8 IMDb rating. I really can't seem to find a flaw in it. It's well written, well cast, well directed, and top it off, it has a really great soundtrack.
shareIt got great reviews when it first came out. In fact, not being a Stiller fan,
I would've bypassed it, but I was looking for a movie to see that Friday,
and my local newspaper RAVED about it, and gave it four out of four stars.
So, I shrugged and went. And laughed my behind off.
It, too, has become one of my fave films of all time, and I agree that it's
one of the very best comedies of the last 25 years or so.
It didn't do great box office upon initial release, and the problem, I think,
it that it was/is simply too sophisticated for average taste today in
comedies. It is essentially a modern-day screwball comedy, and it's humor
is very subtle, based mostly in characterization. And everyone shines, so
much so, that one could argue that Celia Weston steals the film, as much
as Moore, Tomlin, Alda and Segal.
My brother - who favors "gross-out" comedies, turned it off after the first
ten minutes or so, complaining that it "wasn't funny", and all people did was
argue about cheese smelling like vomit (Seagal and Moore).
Again, the people who don't appreciate it, don't get the great wit involved
in the dialogue and characters. And, yes, the music is sublime.