Robert Duvall Movie:

				Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
This film, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut, and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck in traffic one day near downtown L.A. and proceeds to just walk away from his car--and then lose it emotionally. Everyone he encounters rubs him the wrong way--and a fine lot of stereotypes they are, from threatening ghetto punks to rude convenience store owners to a creepy white supremacist--and he reacts violently in every case. As he walks across L.A. (now there's a concept), cutting a bloody swath, he's being tracked by a cop on the verge of retirement (Robert Duvall). He also spends time on the phone with his frightened ex-wife (Barbara Hershey). Though Douglas and Duvall give stellar performances, they can't disguise the fact that, as usual, this is another film from director Joel Schumacher that is about surface and sensation, rather than actual substance. --Marshall Fine

Falling Down [Region 2] Reviews:
Beyond the hype, an affecting portarit of a man adrift. . .
2008-11-12 - Michael Douglas' FALLING DOWN caused quite a stir when it was released in 1993. Many saw it as speaking for the Angry White Man flailing about in modern society, many saw it as racist, sexist, classist. . .pick your "ist". I always saw it as the story of a mildly disturbed man who finally comes to the breaking point. Douglas' William Foster (D-Fens) is one of his very best and most thoughtful performances. What could have been a mere cartoon becomes much, much more. A telling moment in his breakdown comes when he's cut his hand climbing over barbed wire surrounding an obscenely rich plastic surgeon's estate. Bill encounters a caretaker's family, who immediately assumes the worst. Bill relates this family immediately to his own broken marriage and his own dearly-loved daughter, and, on the verge of tears, slides down against a wall. All he wants, he says, is to go home. He wants to see his ex-wife and daughter and bring his child a present. When the sun goes down, he says, he wants to be with them in the dark. And then everything will be just like it was. . .
Heartbreaking and chilling at the same time. Foster is a truly lost soul.

The screenplay by actor Ebbe Roe Smith (MAD CITY, FLETCH LIVES, TURNER AND HOOCH) was shopped around for years before it fell into the hands of Douglas and director Joel Schumacher (THE NUMBER 23, BATMAN FOREVER, FLATLINERS, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA). Schumacher, as always, saw mostly the visual potential of the story and Douglas latched onto the "D-Fens" character. They both saw that Smith's script took well-worn cliches of the "Cop Thriller" and turned them on their collective head with often funny, sometimes frightening, and always observant panache. They populated the film with excellent actors to make sure that the comedy/tragedy structure did not veer too far one way or the other. The very great Robert Duvall essayed Detective Martin Prendergast as a man who knew he needed to be the calm eye of the hurricane. He was dealing with a fragile wife (Tuesday Weld) who had just lost their only child, his own impending retirement from the force, fellow cops who looked down on him for accepting a desk job for his wife's sake, and this man in a white shirt and tie who looked to be heading down an escalating, violent road. Barbara Hershey played Foster's ex-wife, Elizabeth, gradually realizing that the rage she knew was seething just below Bill's surface was about to explode, and having a hard time getting the beat cops to understand. You'll see many familiar faces in the character parts in FALLING DOWN: Frederic Forrest (APOCALYPSE NOW, HAMMETT, LONESOME DOVE, the recent remake of ALL THE KING'S MEN), Rachel Ticotin (THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS, DON JUAN DeMARCO, the TV series LOST), Lois Smith (ER, LAW AND ORDER, COLD CASE), Michael Paul Chan (THE CLOSER, THE P.J.s, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT), Raymond J. Barry (WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY, DEAD MAN WALKING, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY), as well as Steve Park, James Keane, D.W. Moffett and Kimberly Scott. Also watch for Jack Kehoe (from THE STING) as the hardhat who knows there's nothing wrong with the street, and actor and director Vondie Curtis-Hall (perhaps best known for his work in TV's CHICAGO HOPE, and on the big screen in EVE'S BAYOU and TALK TO ME) as the man who is no longer "Economically Viable".

As mentioned, Joel Schumacher's direction is mainly geared toward the visual, with staging, lensing and cutting organized for maximum impact. He is very good at this, yet he manages to get in enough close, emotional moments to fill out the characters and help make FALLING DOWN the experience it is.

And I can't forget to mention the outstanding score by James Newton Howard (nominated for Academy Awards for the films THE FUGITIVE, MICHAEL CLAYTON, MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING and THE PRINCE OF TIDES). His propulsive, exciting, deeply affecting music pushes the film along, building layer upon layer to its sadly inevitable conclusion.

Hey, ya think I like this film? Yup.

Warners released this on DVD with Pan and Scan on one side and the full 2:35 to 1 widescreen aspect ratio on the other. I recommend the widescreen, as Schumacher knows how to make full and satisfying use of the widescreen format. The transfer is sharp and clear, the sound full and rich (wear headphones for the impact of James Newton Howard's score). The only bonus is the trailer for FALLING DOWN.






Revenge of the Nerd
2008-10-11 - In a brilliant parody of the anti-hero, Michael Douglas portrays the faceless, pseudo-white collar employee - William "Bill" Foster/D-Fens - who finally reaches his limit in he boiling summer heat of a gridlocked Los Angeles freeway.

With his adventures in revenge taking him the urban streets to suburbia, Douglas aptly juxtaposes the insanity of the soul and the bizarre fabric of society, no matter the setting. Robert Duvall perfectly plays Detective Martin Prendergast, who is ultimately on a collision course with trying to bring Foster's wave of terror to an end.

It is a solid punch into the midsection of the morals, racism and sickening traps in the human rat race. Foster cries out for many when he exclaims, "I'm the bad guy? How did that happen?"

Madness takes its toll - please have exact change
2008-08-09 - Everyday life can cause enough stress to break the average person. Overworked and underpaid, many people are ticking time bombs, waiting for the right reason to explode. Well, Bill Foster (Douglas) and his wife are having problems, he lost his job, he can't pay child support or see his daughter because his wife's restraining order, and it's just damn hot outside. While stuck in a traffic jam - and who doesn't get angry in traffic - Bill's air conditioner breaks down. Tick, tick, tick...

Bill decides the best way to deal with everything is to ditch his car and get a soda at a nearby convenience store. When a Korean store owner overcharges for the soda, Bill argues with him. Tick, tick...The store owner takes out a bat and threatens Bill. Tick. Bill wrestles the bat away (BOOM!), rearranges the store, and pays what he feels is a fair amount for the Coke. What ensues is a confrontation between Bill and the rest of LA, as Hispanic gang-members attempt to extort money for a fictitious toll through their land. Bill chases them away with the bat, and taunts them as they leave, yelling that they should "learn to write the f'ing graffiti in English". The gang later tracks him down and attempts to shoot him in a drive-by. Oops, they hit everyone in sight except for their target, and in their haste they crashed. Naturally, Bill picks up their bag of weapons, taunts one of the guys, and shoots him in the leg as a message.

Several other incidents of mayhem take place as Bill creates havoc throughout the city. A scene at a restaurant that has moved from the breakfast to lunch menu by just two minutes, and refuses to serve breakfast, is particularly poignant. It seems that nobody is willing to be hospitable, further fueling Bill's feelings of mistreatment at the hands of society, not to mention the general apathy among the general public.

This film really hits home, and rings true in many places I've been. Rampant corruption and government waste, worthless leeches sucking an already masticated system dry, and dregs of society ruining everything for those of us who try to do right. Sadly, it's seems that we are either headed for the future as shown in Idiocracy, or more Bill Fosters running around...neither is appealing.

A "must have" for any movie collector
2008-03-09 - Take the hottest day of the year, a traffic gridlock, cracked pavements, dirty streets, unwarranted hostility and a general feeling of being short changed. Then add the frustrations of having an estranged wife and child, an extremely jaded and unbalanced mindset, and the frustration of being obsolete with no marketable skills. Set them against the decadent back drop of modern day LA where if you are 'Not economically viable,' you are of no use, and the result is Falling Down.

The tag line 'The Adventures of an Ordinary man at War with the Everyday World,' makes Joel Schumacher's masterpiece sound like the benign story of a working stiff with issues. However Falling Down is a dark and engrossing urban fable, a study into the mind of the disenfranchised and reminder to all that the removal of comfort is a lot closer than we care to believe.

Full of clichés, like the cop on his last day before retiring, Falling Down bravely meets all expectations of stereotypes, rather than challenging them, making for a realistic reflection of a failing society. Here, a man in extremis, without the feral cunning or killer instinct required for a life in the street, makes his way on anger and luck alone, somehow surviving to leave a paper chase of violence and destruction behind.

Relying heavily on symbolism (watch for the Stars and Stripes being knocked over) illustrating a flip side of America running parallel to the hunky dory world occupied by the successful, the over all message of 'No Matter, Never Mind,' is clear in this world where children play next to vagrants dying from AIDS and where Korean grocers can legally steal from the public with their overpriced goods.

Michael Douglas displays some hitherto unseen talent as the unbalanced D-FENS, as he casually totes gang weapons (complete with rubber bands on the grips) in his formal shirt and tie, does battle with store owners and comes up against fast food restaurants, homeless people, gangsters and Nazis. Robert Duval is equally brilliant as the desk jockey on his final day, determined to stop anyone else from being hurt, including the perp.

There is, of course, a small amount of Hollywood sentimentality thrown in for good measure, however the dynamics of such a strong narrative make this completely forgivable and it's possible to overlook this as a flaw given the film's overall strengths.

Praise surely has to go to Ebbe Roe Smith for writing one of the finest scripts ever to grace celluloid. Known for bit parts and cameos, who the hell knows who Ebbe really is? Look on IMDb to find out (if you're a geek like me) or release him into the ether if you don't care. The truth is, he's out there. The question is: Where's the next script?

On the whole, Falling Down is a powerful and dramatic indictment of American culture, societal decadence, and the failing values of the West. It's not for everyone and will most certainly offend some, but if approached with an open mind, will provide plenty of fuel for thought. It's a shame though that the DVD doesn't come with any extras (mine didn't, anyway) because there's so much to this film that you just want to know more and more.


Divorced, Going thru a child custody fight?
2008-01-29 - Falling Down DVD

Joel Schumacher's 1992 movie "Falling Down" is a chillingly powerful movie that seems to get often misinterpreted. Don't get the wrong idea, there definitely is substance to this movie--it's not just some kind of freak show.

Michael Douglas, in a spellbinding performance, plays William Foster, a man who totally collapses emotionally while stuck in traffic one morning. He ditches his car, leaving it right in the middle of the roadway, and begins an on-foot trek 'home' through the streets of Los Angeles. What follows is a day of extremely temperamental and violent behavior from Foster, lashing out against a Korean shop owner who 'won't make change', Latino gang members who accuse him of invading their territory, a fast food restaurant that's 'stopped serving breakfast', and a neo-Nazi gun shop owner who already has some frightening issues of his own.


Michael Douglas is clearly the perfect actor for the role of William Foster. Douglas' terrific knacks for subtlety and dry humor are key ingredients to making his character, despite all of his fits of violence, frighteningly sympathetic. It never appears that Foster derives any amount of pleasure or satisfaction from his violent reactions--it's as if he thinks he is merely 'bringing justice' to the inadequacies of everyday life.

We learn that Foster's ultimate destination is to return to his ex-wife's home for his daughter's birthday. We learn from the ex-wife (played by Barbara Hershey) that she has a court order against him from seeing her or the daughter. She admits that he never actually resorted to violence against her on the daughter, but that she "thinks he could".

Robert Duvall plays Prendergast, an about-to-retire cop. Despite the fact that it's originally intended to be Prendergast's last day on the job, he becomes immersed in the trail being left by Foster. The two finally encounter each other in the movie's powerful 'big climax'--by this time, Foster has definitely reached the point of insanity, or as he says in his own words a bit earlier on in the film, "past the point of no return".

Michael Douglas makes it seems as though this kind of devastating emotional collapse could easily happen to just about any 'average Joe', and that's where a great deal of the film's power lies. "Falling Down" is a thought-provoking movie that really stays with you.



Highly recommended for fans of Michael Douglas and any man who has been through a divorce.

Gunner January, 2008