Review of Falling Down (1993) by Blake B — 14 Jul 2009

I absolutely love Michael Douglas' character in "Falling Down". His despair at modern society is just as prescient today as it was almost 17 years ago. My beef with this movie is that they didn't spend ENOUGH time with Douglas, and spent too much time with Robert Duvall (who is fine here, regardless) and the strange plot point of where he's moving, why he's moving, and with his annoying wife and all the retirement hoopla. Maybe there's some mystical reason that it needed to be in the script, but I don't see it. I wanted to see more breakdowns and dressdowns by Douglas over other horrid aspects of an American society gone wrong in almost every way. It's just so perfect, and it makes you wonder how is it that so few people have ever followed suit, or at least spoken with the same conviction. 17 years later, the American sheeple continue their lives as society around them crumbles, and they just continue to put up with it--continue to allow all forms of business (be it construction, convenience stores, car companies, banks, fast food restaurants, etc...) to walk all over them as the only voices that ever speak out against the injustices get thrown in jail (like the black man protesting outside of the bank that denied him a loan) or put down lethally.

Very powerful movie that could have said and done so much more, but still very enjoyable and important nonetheless.