Falling Down

Take the hottest day of the year, a traffic gridlock, cracked pavements, dirty streets, unwarranted hostility and a general feeling of being short changed. Then add the frustrations of having an estranged wife and child, an extremely jaded and unbalanced mindset, and the frustration of being obsolete with no marketable skills. Set them against the decadent back drop of modern day LA where if you are 'Not economically viable,' you are of no use, and the result is Falling Down.

The tag line 'The Adventures of an Ordinary man at War with the Everyday World,' makes Joel Schumacher's masterpiece sound like the benign story of a working stiff with issues. However Falling Down is a dark and engrossing urban fable, a study into the mind of the disenfranchised and reminder to all that the removal of comfort is a lot closer than we care to believe.

Full of clichés, like the cop on his last day before retiring, Falling Down bravely meets all expectations of stereotypes, rather than challenging them, making for a realistic reflection of a failing society. Here, a man in extremis, without the feral cunning or killer instinct required for a life in the street, makes his way on anger and luck alone, somehow surviving to leave a paper chase of violence and destruction behind.

Relying heavily on symbolism, illustrating a flip side of America running parallel to the hunky dory world occupied by the successful, the over all message of 'No Matter, Never Mind,' is clear in this world where children play next to vagrants dying from AIDS and Korean grocers can legally steal from the public with their overpriced goods.

Michael Douglas displays some hitherto unseen talent as the unbalanced D-FENS, as he casually totes gang weapons (complete with rubber bands on the grips) in his formal shirt and tie, does battle with store owners and comes up against fast food restaurants, homeless people, gangsters and Nazis. Robert Duval is equally brilliant as the desk jockey on his final day, determined to stop anyone else from being hurt, including the perp.

There is, of course, a small amount of Hollywood sentimentality thrown in for good measure, however the dynamics of such a strong narrative make this completely forgivable and it's possible to overlook this as a flaw given the film's overall strengths.

Praise surely has to go to Ebbe Roe Smith for writing one of the finest scripts ever to grace celluloid. Known for bit parts and cameos, who the hell knows who Ebbe really is? Look on IMDb to find out (if you're a geek like me) or release him into the ether if you don't care. The truth is, he's out there. The question is: Where's the next script?

On the whole, Falling Down is a powerful and dramatic indictment of American culture, societal decadence, and the failing values of the West. It's not for everyone and will most certainly offend some, but if approached with an open mind, will provide plenty of fuel for thought.

Joel Schumacher's career has gone down the drain since this movie, for now he is just trying to make stupid movies with no sense and style. However this proved to be one of his best films. Michael Douglas portrayed William Forster perfectly, giving us a character who is both sensible and psychotic at the same time. The whole scene with Douglas in the fast food restaurant was priceless, giving a voice to the typical angry consumer. So many messages in the film really brought out the stereotypical infuriated American, and gave us the reactionary nature of such an individual. While this film will most likely leak in to the annals of obscurity, this one will always remain in my video collection.

The older you get, the more you will make sense and understand this movie

Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall star in a film that portrays life as true, funny and aggravating as it really is. Douglas is wonderful in his role of an average Joe Schmoe gone haywire, and Robert Duvall is vivid and deep as the cop on the chase.

Falling Down may have a few incredibilities (though I remember going through a lot of situations in the film Douglas went through-though I never was angry enough to pull a shotgun out), but it's more symbolic than anything.

I think the funniest part is the burger restaurant, obviously a mimic of McDonalds, and Douglas' reaction. It's kind of like he realizes, "Hey, I'm this far, why not complain about the burger while I'm at it? It's always bugged me anyway!" Falling Down represents all Americans: the aggravations, road rage we hear about, everything. Every day situations in a new perspective.

5/5 stars-

JOHN ULMER

It has been 26 years since this movie came out. I saw it finally yesterday after desiring to see it since it was first advertised on circuit all those years ago. And what's my synopsis of this semi-vintage movie?...brilliant! So worth it! So much better than I ever imagined it could be! And not outdated at all! I expected it would be a novel, fun, action-packed movie about a guy who's had enough; with something of a pointed statement/indictment against our modern urban society. And it is that...but also so much more! This film is a masterpiece; it is beautiful and poignant art. There is not a scene or a shot or an utterance that is not absolutely intentional, loaded with depth and/or intrinsic to both the unfolding narrative and to its poetic depiction of humanity and the state of the world. It's a film that makes me feel robbed for having watched dozens of mindless one-dimensional action movies over these years. The writer (Ebbe Roe Smith), the director (Joel Shumacher), the awesome actors Douglas and Duvall and everyone involved with this production do not deserve a tinselly Oscar...they deserve a medal! And this movie deserves a shelf at the Louvre! And it most certainly deserves to be watched! As for me, I will be grabbing my shovel and go tracing the seam of movies from these great artists in search for more undiscovered gold. Last words: know that the language is not toned down and the very hard, very real issues that it deals with are weighty, so it's not for every audience or every occasion. But it couldn't have been any other way for being a look on real life. Phenomenal though that there is such hopefulness, joy, inspiration, overflowing humour and clever wit in this story. It is not at all a dark or depressing or ugly movie while it deals with matter in our society that is just that. It is like a great red wine that has the sweet and the bitter and the dry just perfectly balanced ... you take a sip, savour it and sigh out, in deep satisfaction!