|
Video Rental Review:
Flirting with Disaster: film about searching 1996, Rated R for sex, profanity and "mature themes"
Originally reviewed by Damsel Plum in 1996
Adoptees should not be left alone on Mother’s Day. There’s no telling what sort of pathetic behavior they’ll indulge in. I won’t regale you with my antics of last year, but suffice it to say that this Mother’s Day I was determined not to have a nervous breakdown. I made very explicit plans for the day. In the morning I would call all the appropriate maternal figures, go to the gym, then come home, have lunch and go to the movies with my husband while my in-laws watched the kids. In the evening we would all go out to dinner. I am happy to report that all went well, apart from having to listen to a rather drawn-out discussion regarding the virtues of flush-mounted stainless steel riveting.
There was some indecision as to what movie we should see. For personal reasons, I thought “Twister” might be cathartic. I could imagine my enemies being swept away in the ruthless whirlwind. Mobile homes being pierced by church steeples. Hyperactive tumbleweeds scouring demolished trailer parks. Oral Roberts’s Prayer Tower used for ring-toss by an errant Ferris wheel. Could be good. My loftier instincts prevailed, though, and I opted for another, slightly less cataclysmic offering: “Flirting with Disaster.”
“Flirting with Disaster” is a comedy about an adoptee’s search for his birthparents, and it deals with this issue as if it were something normal and natural to do. It’s also truly hilarious. This is no art-house on-a-shoestring-budget flick either. We’re talking big names here: Mary Tyler Moore and George Segal as the adoptive parents, Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin as the birthparents, Patricia Arquette as the neglected new mother/wife and Ben Stiller as the adoptee. Hopefully, this movie will get a nice, long run and the public will start thinking that searching is a normal process many adoptees need to go through.
Many adoptees will be able to relate to the opening scene in which Ben Stiller’s character, Mel, talks about wondering who his birthparents might be. He imagines various people on the streets of New York City, including lawyers, bus drivers, beggars, and screaming half-naked schizophrenics, coming together in various combinations to possibly be his long-lost birthparents. In the next scene Mel is at the adoption agency finding out the name of his birthmother (as if this were a common occurrence - ha!) and planning to embark on his search. Having just become a father himself, Mel feels a special urgency to find his birthparents as soon as possible. It is very common for adoptees to feel a sudden need to search when they are ready to start a family themselves. Mel’s unresolved adoption issues are so pronounced that he has even been unable to name his four-month-old child. This sort of exaggeration prevails throughout the film and adds levity to what could otherwise be a very intense and melodramatic subject.
The movie manages to realistically portray the stresses searching and a newborn child have on personal relationships: the confused allegiances of the adoptee, the insecurities of the spouse and adoptive parents. Even the topic of homosexual adoption is integrated into the story. Birthparents might not be as crazy about this film as adoptees and adoptive parents, although I thought a good range of birthparents was represented.
Unfortunately, “Flirting with Disaster” doesn’t touch at all on closed records or on how difficult it can be to get any information on one’s biological heritage, but it does show how searching can affect personal relationships, how often we get false leads, how adoptees deal with false expectations, and most importantly, that searching need not be considered a threat to adoptive parents. The style is broadly farcical, which is refreshing after all the sappy and tacky treatments we see in TV docudramas and even in flicks like Woody Allen's “Mighty Aphrodite.” Everyone is a caricature, yet extremely believable. The acting is stylized, but perfect for the genre. There is no problem suspending disbelief, despite the exaggerated characters and crazy plot turns.
So, people, GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!! The more people who see it, the longer it will stay in the theaters, the more exposure it will get. And it’s a total riot. You’ll love it. ********************************************************* (This feature appeared in the Spring 2001 issue of the Bastard Quarterly.) Copyright 2001 Bastard Nation
|