|
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
This film, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut, and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck in traffic one day near downtown L.A. and proceeds to just walk away from his car--and then lose it emotionally. Everyone he encounters rubs him the wrong way--and a fine lot of stereotypes they are, from threatening ghetto punks to rude convenience store owners to a creepy white supremacist--and he reacts violently in every case. As he walks across L.A. (now there's a concept), cutting a bloody swath, he's being tracked by a cop on the verge of retirement (Robert Duvall). He also spends time on the phone with his frightened ex-wife (Barbara Hershey). Though Douglas and Duvall give stellar performances, they can't disguise the fact that, as usual, this is another film from director Joel Schumacher that is about surface and sensation, rather than actual substance. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Beyond the hype, an affecting portarit of a man adrift. . .
Michael Douglas' FALLING DOWN caused quite a stir when it was released in 1993. Many saw it as speaking for the Angry White Man flailing about in modern society, many saw it as racist, sexist, classist. . .pick your "ist". I always saw it as the story of a mildly disturbed man who finally comes to the breaking point. Douglas' William Foster (D-Fens) is one of his very best and most thoughtful performances. What could have been a mere cartoon becomes much, much more. A telling moment in his breakdown ... Read More
Rating: - Revenge of the Nerd
In a brilliant parody of the anti-hero, Michael Douglas portrays the faceless, pseudo-white collar employee - William "Bill" Foster/D-Fens - who finally reaches his limit in he boiling summer heat of a gridlocked Los Angeles freeway.
With his adventures in revenge taking him the urban streets to suburbia, Douglas aptly juxtaposes the insanity of the soul and the bizarre fabric of society, no matter the setting. Robert Duvall perfectly plays Detective Martin Prendergast, who is ultimately on a ... Read More
Rating:  - Madness takes its toll - please have exact change
Everyday life can cause enough stress to break the average person. Overworked and underpaid, many people are ticking time bombs, waiting for the right reason to explode. Well, Bill Foster (Douglas) and his wife are having problems, he lost his job, he can't pay child support or see his daughter because his wife's restraining order, and it's just damn hot outside. While stuck in a traffic jam - and who doesn't get angry in traffic - Bill's air conditioner breaks down. Tick, tick, tick...
Bill ... Read More
Rating: - A "must have" for any movie collector
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 ... Read More
Rating: - Divorced, Going thru a child custody fight?
Falling Down DVD
Joel Schumacher's 1992 movie "Falling Down" is a chillingly powerful movie that seems to get often misinterpreted. Don't get the wrong idea, there definitely is substance to this movie--it's not just some kind of freak show.
Michael Douglas, in a spellbinding performance, plays William Foster, a man who totally collapses emotionally while stuck in traffic one morning. He ditches his car, leaving it right in the middle of the roadway, and begins an on-foot trek 'home' through ... Read More
|
