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David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work. Russell was born in New York City, New York to a Jewish father and an Italian American Catholic mother, and was raised in an "atheistic" household. He graduated from Amherst College in 1981, majoring in Political Science and English. His first directorial effort was the independent dark comedy Spanking the Monkey in 1994, starring Jeremy Davies as a troubled young man. Despite the controversial subject matter, the film... MORE

David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work. Russell was born in New York City, New York to a Jewish father and an Italian American Catholic mother, and was raised in an "atheistic" household. He graduated from Amherst College in 1981, majoring in Political Science and English. His first directorial effort was the independent dark comedy Spanking the Monkey in 1994, starring Jeremy Davies as a troubled young man. Despite the controversial subject matter, the film received critical acclaim and won him Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature from the Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. His next project was another independent comedy, Flirting with Disaster (1996), about a neurotic man (Ben Stiller) who travels with his wife (Patricia Arquette) and a high-strung caseworker (Téa Leoni) to find his biological parents. The film was well-received by most critics. Roger Ebert said of the direction, "Russell finds the strong central line all screwball begins with, the seemingly serious mission or quest, and then LESS