Falling Down

The adventure of an ordinary man at war with the everyday world

FALLING DOWN (18)

D: Joel Schumacher

Warner Bros. (Arnold Kopelson, Timothy Harris & Herschel Weingrod)

USA 🇺🇸 1993

115 mins

Crime/Drama/Comedy

W: Ebbe Roe Smith

DP: Andrzej Bartkowiak

Ed: Paul Hirsch

Mus: James Newton Howard

Michael Douglas (D-Fens), Robert Duvall (Det. Martin Prendergast), Barbara Hershey (Beth), Rachel Ticotin (Sandra), Tuesday Weld (Mrs. Prendergast)

Arguably Joel Schumacher's finest hour as a director. Michael Douglas plays a disgruntled civil servant who has reached breaking point. He abandons his car on a gridlocked Los Angeles freeway and makes his way on foot through the urban jungle to confront his ex-wife on his daughter's birthday. His conflicts with other civilians begin with minor irritants like the price of a can of cola and being a few minutes too late to order breakfast from a takeout diner before he gets in serious trouble with LA gangs over a territorial issue when he merely takes a rest on "their" land. The only person who seems to share and admire his rebellion is a homophobic Neo-Nazi, much to Douglas' disgust.

Part black comedy, part acerbic crime thriller, the film owes much to it's canvas of characters, especially Robert Duvall as mild-mannered cop aiming to put a stop to Douglas' shenanigans and Barbara Hershey as the estranged wife. This is Michael Douglas' film though, delivering his best performance since his Oscar-winning turn in Wall Street.

7/10