Film 11 (8/31/2005)

Falling Down (1993)

Director: Joel Schumaker

Recommended by: RailroadHatPat

Has Fentablar seen this before?: Yes.

Falling Down is an excellent film and in my book has been a top-5 film for some time. It is an awesome story about an extreme and extraordinary mid-life crisis; probably the best mid-life crisis film ever made.

"D-FENS" (Michael Douglas) suffers a mental breakdown in the film's opening, then leaves his car on the freeway and begins a dedicated crusade to see his daughter on her birthday. The best part is, along the way during his crusade, he retaliates against things we deal with in our every day life which either don't make sense or are simply unfair - starting small with the price of a can of Coca-Cola, ending large with the inane bigotry of an aryan fanatic. In doing so, Falling Down does a wonderful job of bestowing the "Hero" moniker upon D-FENS since a majority of Americans (particularly American men) feel just about as frustrated as D-FENS does (which allows the viewer to be more sympathetic to his cause). All of this, of course, is wrapped into the larger story of "D-FENS" crusade to see his daughter, and Prendergast's (Robert Duvall) crusade to stop him.

That is the film, simply stated. There is so much more than that, though. First off, there is no definitive protagonist or antagonist in this story - by which I mean that both D-FENS and Prendergast can be considered as both archetypes when viewing the film from a D-FENS vs. Prendergast angle. Yet, these two characters are also the protagonist of their own individual storylines - in fact, the antagonists for each of them are their respective wives (ex-wife, in D-FENS' case). This adds a mentally stimulating layer to the character study aspect of this film, because D-FENS and Prendergast are so much like each other.

Additonally, both dircectly through the acts of D-FENS as well as through the elements/people surrounding those acts, Falling Down makes some wonderful societal commentary. Essentially, this commentary states that the individuals in our society have become far too self-serving and have seemingly lost any empathy for other individuals, forgetting that other individuals are just as human as they are.

As an aside - I find it interesting that Falling Down became last night's choice given that one of the primary messages of my previous viewing, Mind the Gap, is essentially the same message as that which is stated in my previous paragraph. Perhaps I made a subconscious connection here but, regardless, connections such as these are wonderful stimuli.

To conclude: if you have not seen Falling Down and you pay taxes, AND you are a consumer - this is a must see. D-FENS will be your hero just as he is mine.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: 5/5. I know a few people who disagree with the very end of the film, but I think it fits the hero's story to a tee.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: 5/5. Schumaker does a wonderful job filming the congested chaos that is Los Angeles during the business day. From the very opening sequence, I was impressed with this category.

Overall Acting: 5/5. I don't think Duvall can even act mediocre, let alone poorly. Also, in my opinion, this is Douglas' best work ever (Wall Street comes second).

Score/Soundtrack: 5/5. Subtle and effective, the score quite capably enhances the aura of D-FENS while he crusades across L.A.

OVERALL RATING: 5/5

~Fentablar~