Review of Falling Down (1993) by Gee P — 04 Jan 2010

Michael Douglas, as Bill Foster, an engineer who, lately fired from his defense industry job, is living with the fallout of his uncontrollable rage at a society he believes is falling down around him, which includes his divorce and the loss of the privilege of visiting his young daughter, takes to the streets of Los Angeles after his car is stalled on a freeway on a hot summer?s day.

As he walks across town, going home to see his daughter on her birthday, despite his ex-wife?s restraining order, he encounters an insensitive shop owner, members of a street gang, rude public employees, arrogant golfers, patronizing fast-food employees, a sexist and homophobic neo-Nazi, heartless bankers, the family of a wealthy plastic surgeon?s estate, aggressive panhandlers, and others whose lives suggest that, indeed, something does seem to be ?falling down? about contemporary American society.

His foil is his nemesis, Detective Prendergast (Robert Duvall), who is about to retire, but spends his last day on the force trying to catch Foster and put an end to his one-man crime spree. Prendergast?s wife is a basket case, fearing her husband will be killed in the line of duty.

Their daughter, a victim, allegedly, of infant death syndrome, at age two, has left the couple childless, and she fears being abandoned, as it were, by her husband as well, should he be killed before he retires and they can relocate to the relative safety of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

How Prendergast faces his problems contrasts sharply with how Foster deals with his own, establishing a vehicle for suggesting the story?s theme. Douglas is superb in his role, Duvall is solid, and Tuesday Weld, as Prendergast?s domineering wife; Barbara Hershey as Foster?s ex-wife; and Rachel Ticotin, as Prendergast?s colleague and friend, Detective Sandra Torres, all deliver good performances.

This is an action-packed, but philosophical movie, written by Ebbe Roe Smith and directed by Joel Schumacher.