FBMR - Falling Down

Have you ever had “one of those days” where nothing goes right, and you get so annoyed that you want to explode? This movie captures this perfectly. Michael Douglas has the lead role as your run-of-the-mill office worker who, in the middle of a blistering heat wave and in morning rush-hour traffic, decides that he’s had enough, and wants to go home. He leaves his car, and walks away, only to embark on a very unexpected adventure. He gets involved in one misunderstanding after another, and he snaps, and goes ballistic, doing things we do only in our dreams. It’s his own brand of justice. Of course, nobody’s perfect, and that goes doubly for this character, but he has a simple way about him which endears him to the audience almost immediately, and is sustained right up until the end of the movie.

Inevitably, during his rampage, where he never actually hurts anyone directly, the police get involved, and their job is to track him down and bring him in. Robert Duvall plays the cop assigned to the case on his last day before retirement. Duvall’s character is also very identifiable, and we can sympathize with him too. Similar to one of Hitchcock’s tools, this movie shows the good and the bad sides of both of these characters, where neither is the hero, nor the villain.

If you ever have “one of those days”, instead of taking it out on those around you, pick this movie up and watch it instead, it’s about as satisfying as actually doing this stuff yourself.


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FALLING DOWN (1993) ***1/2 Have you ever had “one of those days” where nothing goes right, and you get so annoyed that you want to explode? This movie captures this perfectly. Michael Douglas has the lead role as your run-of-the-mill office worker who, in the middle of a blistering heat wave and in morning rush-hour traffic, decides that he’s had enough, and wants to go home. He leaves his car, and walks away, only to embark on a very unexpected adventure. He gets involved in one misunderstanding after another, and he snaps, and goes ballistic, doing things we do only in our dreams. It’s his own brand of justice. Of course, nobody’s perfect, and that goes doubly for this character, but he has a simple way about him which endears him to the audience almost immediately, and is sustained right up until the end of the movie. Inevitably, during his rampage, where he never actually hurts anyone directly, the police get involved, and their job is to track him down and bring him in. Robert Duvall plays the cop assigned to the case on his last day before retirement. Duvall’s character is also very identifiable, and we can sympathize with him too. Similar to one of Hitchcock’s tools, this movie shows the good and the bad sides of both of these characters, where neither is the hero, nor the villain. If you ever have “one of those days”, instead of taking it out on those around you, pick this movie up and watch it instead, it’s about as satisfying as actually doing this stuff yourself.