Chute libre

The older you get, the more you will make sense and understand this movie

Joel Schumacher's career has gone down the drain since this movie, for now he is just trying to make stupid movies with no sense and style. However this proved to be one of his best films. Michael Douglas portrayed William Forster perfectly, giving us a character who is both sensible and psychotic at the same time. The whole scene with Douglas in the fast food restaurant was priceless, giving a voice to the typical angry consumer. So many messages in the film really brought out the stereotypical infuriated American, and gave us the reactionary nature of such an individual. While this film will most likely leak in to the annals of obscurity, this one will always remain in my video collection.

Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall star in a film that portrays life as true, funny and aggravating as it really is. Douglas is wonderful in his role of an average Joe Schmoe gone haywire, and Robert Duvall is vivid and deep as the cop on the chase.

Falling Down may have a few incredibilities (though I remember going through a lot of situations in the film Douglas went through-though I never was angry enough to pull a shotgun out), but it's more symbolic than anything.

I think the funniest part is the burger restaurant, obviously a mimic of McDonalds, and Douglas' reaction. It's kind of like he realizes, "Hey, I'm this far, why not complain about the burger while I'm at it? It's always bugged me anyway!" Falling Down represents all Americans: the aggravations, road rage we hear about, everything. Every day situations in a new perspective.

5/5 stars-

JOHN ULMER

This movie is brilliant. It's severely underrated, criminally misunderstood, and I believe, totally ahead of its time. In "Falling Down", Michael Douglas has brought to life one of the most believable, likeable, and disturbing antiheroes of all time. It's a poignant tale of the everyman finally getting sick of the various stupidities, banalities, and irritabilities (I'm coining that if it's not already a word) that plague our modern life. It's a film that, at the beginning is as hilarious as it is true, but as the film continues, it proceeds to become more real, more disturbing, but also more grounded in its message. It's ridiculous and insane, but it also cuts deep to the truths that all of us feel at times. I've seen a number of Joel Schumacher's films, but this is the only one I could imagine myself watching multiple times. It depicts the American dream better than most films out there. It shows the everyman's struggle to conquer what he believes is wrong. It gives us a person to root for who is idealistic and filled with bravado, but also a man who is seriously flawed. I really believe this picture was ahead of its time; it didn't get incredible reviews, but I'd argue it's Joel Schumacher's crowning achievement.

I watched 'Falling Down' when it originally came out in 1993 here in Texas and also again when I recently visited Los Angeles to write a book about it last January. This is an incredible movie whereby it spins an allegory about one man's descent into hell and the society which represents this hell. There are no winners in this plot and I see occurrences similar to what I experienced in Los Angeles during 2006. I feel this could happen to any person regardless of race or gender. In this case, he was a white middle aged man with many issues. The movie seemed realistic is some instances but drifted away to Hollywood fantasy (the bazooka scene later in the movie). Do we see similar cases like this today? This could definitely happen in any community in the United States for any of the reasons defined in the movie. One should watch this and then understand many of the frustrations which many people don't assume affect different sectors of society. Because one dresses in a shirt and tie does not mean that a calm demeanor lies beneath the surface such as what the allegory of this movie is stating. I consider this one the best of '93 and well worth buying or watching. I will be watching this again in Lubbock, Texas and with my cousin and friend in Los Angeles.