Review of Falling Down (1993) by Aaron N — 25 Jun 2009

[Bill Foster exits his car in the middle of the highway].

Guy on Freeway: Hey, where do you think you're going?

Bill Foster: I'm going home!

An interesting film that moves down an alley that begins as dark comedy and ends up in drama/thriller territory. It works at covering the state of capitalist society as the Cold War has just ended during the time of this film, as well as commenting on consumer culture, racial issues, and voicing every day bull shit. Its not perfect, but its different and a challenging role for Michael Douglas, who shines and one of Joel Schumacher's best films.

Bill Foster: Why am I calling you by your first names? I don't even know you. I still call my boss "Mister", and I've been working for him for seven years, but all of a sudden I walk in here and I'm calling you Rick and Sheila like we're in some kind of AA meeting... I don't want to be your buddy, Rick. I just want some breakfast.

Douglas stars as Bill Foster, a man, who sitting in his car on a hot day, basically decides that he's had enough. He then leaves his car and proceeds to head "home." We meet Bill and we don't know him. We don't even know his name for the majority of the film. Over time we learn more about Bill's life, but in the meantime, we the audience must follow Bill through LA, as he encounters different groups of people and decides to be very open about his opinion on his modern time. As we see, Bill has a temper, and this day may get the best of him.

Nick: We're the same, you and me. We're the same, don't you see?

Bill Foster: We are not the same. I'm an American and you're a sick asshole.

Nick: Just what kind of vigilante are you?

Bill Foster: I am not a vigilante. I am just trying to get home to my little girl's birthday party and if everyone will just stay out of my way, nobody will get hurt.

On this same day, we have Sgt. Prendergast, played by Robert Duvall, who is one day from retirement. He picks up on the path of destruction being caused by Bill, and spends the day with a fellow officer, played by Rachel Ticotin trying to find this man. Prendergast must also deal with his pestering wife, who has basically forced him into retirement in the first place.

Sergeant Prendergast: They lie to everybody; they lie to the fish.

Douglas is great here, in a role far different than others that he has played. The descent his character takes during this film is effective and while we shouldn't support this character or even relate to him that much, he is engaging. I could certainly use more of his character and less of Prendergast. Duvall is very good in the role, but his subplot takes up too much screen time. The stuff involving his wife could easily be taken out and made reference to through dialog instead.

Still, I am involved throughout this film, and I credit that to the general feel of the film. It presents LA effectively and works its strange angle as an un-PC dark comedy as it builds towards its climax, with things becoming more and more serious.

Bill Foster: I'm the bad guy?

Sergeant Prendergast: Yeah.

Bill Foster: How did that happen?