Review of Falling Down (1993) by Martin D — 28 Feb 2010

A divorced engineer for the defense industry gets stuck in L.A. traffic and finally snaps. He gets out of his car and begins a walk through central L.A., where he encounters various levels of harassment, which he learns to deal with by acquiring weapons along the way. His actions attract the attention of a retiring cop, and he gets involved with the case, following the engineer's path toward Venice, where his daughter is having a birthday party.Michael Douglas plays a disturbed man whose true identity is unknown through most of the film. He is stuck in Los Angeles traffic on a very hot summer day and finally just gives up and abandons his vehicle. D-Fens, as he is credited in the film (based on his vanity license plate), begins walking west, trying to reach his estranged wife and daughter. It's the little girl's birthday, and he is determined to reach "home" to be with her.

In a parallel story line, Detective Prendergast of the LAPD (Robert Duvall) is on his last day before taking an early retirement. His needy, bossy wife demanded that he do this, and Prendergast took a "safe" desk job a few years back to placate her as well. He comes upon D-Fens's abandoned car on his way to work and helps push it out of traffic.

D-Fens calls his ex-wife on a pay phone but hangs up when she answers. Short on coins to call again, he enters a Korean-owned convenience store. He respects the "no change without purchase" policy and tries to buy a can of Coke. He is incensed at the high price and begins a tirade against foreigners who come to America and charge outrageous prices. He is soon fighting with the Korean owner and, after grabbing a sawed-off baseball bat from the man, begins wrecking the store. Eventually he calms down a little, pays a "reasonable" price for the soda, and leaves.

Heading for Venice, California, D-Fens climbs a hill in "gangland," an area rife with Hispanic gang activity. Two young gang-bangers accost him because he's a white man in a white shirt and a tie, with a briefcase, wandering through their "hood." When D-Fens fails to hand over any money, they threaten him with a knife, and he counters with the bat he got at the convenience store. He injures one assailant's arm and drives the other off. Dropping the bat, he picks up the butterfly knife, establishing a pattern of increasing his armament throughout the film.

The Latino gang members vow revenge, and a carload (with many firearms, including automatic weapons) is soon out hunting for D-Fens. He is again calling his ex from a pay phone, threatening to show up at his daughter's birthday party. The gangsters attempt a drive-by shooting but miss D-Fens, hitting other bystanders and crashing their car. Going up to the wreckage, D-Fens admonishes them for missing him, shoots one in the leg, and makes off with a gym bag filled with guns.