Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Falling Down
Released 1993
Directed by Joel Schumaker
Starring Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall

Okay, to start off this series of movie reviews, I've started off with one of Joel Schumaker's best films. Yes, believe it or not, Joel Schumaker did not just do Batman and Robin (which everyone says is one of the worst movies as well as the worst Batman movie out there, but I digress and I'll explain at a later time).

Falling Down stars Michael Douglas as William Foster, known only in the movie by what his license plate says, "D-Fens," and Robert Duvall as Martin Pendergast, an LAPD officer who is on his final day before retirement. Foster is a laid off defense worker who's daughter is having her birthday. However, he is trapped in mile-upon-mile, bumper-to-bumper traffic in searing heat and his wife has a restraining order against him. When we first see Foster, he is trapped in his car, and you begin to see the seeds of what's going to happen in the movie go through his eyes. And he snaps, and begins a day-long rampage upon the city of Los Angeles.

All in all, this movie is pretty good. According to a few people I've seen on YouTube, they've said that if Grand Theft Auto was made into a movie, this is how it would be. Michael Douglas' acting in this movie works very well, showing all the different emotions that his character has to portray, and playing them off very cool, calm, and collected. Just go onto YouTube and search "Falling Down Whammy Burger" and you'll see one of the more comedic moments.

There are a few comedic moments in the movie, such as the above scene (It was an accident), where Foster points out the terrible aiming skills of a couple of gangsters, a scene at a construction site, and telling off an irate golfer. By shooting his golf cart and making him have a heart attack. Yes, I admit it's dark humor, but there's still some memorable lines and a few comedic moments.

However, where the movie has its shortcomings is the character of Foster's wife and questioning some of Foster's early reactions to things (namely the Korean convenience store owner). The wife character is kind of a shrewish character (saying that Foster had a tendency towards violence and when asked by police if he hit her, she says "not exactly." wink The ending is kind of a bittersweet ending, but I won't spoil it for anyone that wants to see the movie.

Overall, the movie scores an 8.5/10. This is a movie that one should see if they wanted to see Joel Schumaker before he gained the terrible reputation of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.