Flirting with Disaster

An odd little bird of a movie — one that, in retrospect, kicked off a fairly solid career for David O. Russell, and one littered with great performances from beloved actors. And yet it seems to have barely any cultural footprint at all. Perhaps that's because its star shines less obviously bright here than in the other Ben Stiller vehicles that made him famous; perhaps it's because it mostly stars people you laugh at but do not like. Flirting with Disaster works very, very well when you examine it through its screwball sensibility. Russell strikes a fascinating balance with this script: almost every single line read is delivered in a mostly naturalistic way. Nobody is playing a cartoon character. These are real, genuine — albeit silly and ridiculous — adults. But the off-screen action, the camera movement, and the editing almost serve to undermine them. Take Richard Jenkins, absolutely playing his pants off, getting passed between two cars in a long-running bit about him being the…