After deciding to start this blog I really couldn't decide which movie to begin with. I mean there have been so many great ones made over the years singling out the first one to start writing about wasn't easy. Luckily, but strangely, the decision was made for me when I discovered a hole in my shoe while at work, weird I know, but the first thing this strange occurrence made me think of was Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Why, you may be asking? Well there is a scene where his character William Foster (D-Fens), after abandoning his car in a traffic jam and terrorising a Korean convenience shop owner over the prices of his goods, stops for a sit down to realise there is a gaping hole in his shoe. Why this thought was the first thing that entered my mind I do not know, maybe it was fate or maybe it was just my movie brain working overtime. Either way the decision was made.
Released on the 4th June 1993 and directed by Joel Schumacher (yes he was also responsible for the awful Batman & Robin) Falling Down has to rank as one of my all time favourites and I cannot believe that it is now 20 years old this year. It tells the story of William Foster or D-FENS (private registration on his car) a defence worker who one morning while on his way to work, stuck in his car in a traffic jam on a hot day with no air con & a buzzing fly, decides he just can't take it anymore, abandons his car and declares he is "going home". The film follows his exploits / adventures as he makes this journey walking across various parts of L.A. with often unhinged and violent consequences. As the story unfolds we learn that D-FENS, even though he states he's going home, isn't welcome there at all as his wife has divorced him and wants nothing to do with him due to his quite severe anger management issues. It is these anger management issues that the film focuses on as he encounters a variety of people from gang members, angry shop owners and fast food staff members that won't serve him breakfast at 10.32 as they stop serving at 10.30.
On the other side of this story is Prendergast, played by the brilliant Robert Duvall, a cop on his last day at work before retiring, who gets himself entangled with D-FENS and attempts to stop him before it's too late. During the film we learn that Prendergast is in fact retiring early to move away with his wife following the untimely death of their young daughter. At first he comes across as a weak individual as his own Police Captain derides him for wanting to retire early and for the fact he now sits behind a desk instead of being out in the firing line. His colleagues also goad him about retiring but he just takes it all on the chin. As the film progresses you start to realise that he doesn't really want to retire or move away but feels he has to for the sake of his wife who is suffering from depression and frequent breakdowns. It's a great example of how sometimes we do things in life and give up things to please other people even though, ultimately deep down, we don't really want to. By the end of the film he becomes a changed person and his encounter with D-FENS seems to give him some sense of purpose in his life again. I think in some ways it says to me that sometimes in life we have to make our own choices and not be guided by others, even the ones we love. Duvall portrays the character brilliantly.
Of course the film would ultimately be nothing if it wasn't for Michael Douglas himself. Apparently, no studio at the time wanted to make it and it was only when Douglas (a big star at the time after Basic Instinct) ended up reading the script, declaring it the best he had read, that the film started to get studio backing and ultimately got made. According to imdb Douglas also considers FALLING DOWN to be one of his favourite performances and I couldn't agree with him more. I would also consider it to be the best performance of his career, he just suited and played the role perfectly with the right balance of humour, anger and violence. How he didn't at least get Oscar nominated I'll never know but most of the truly great performances never really do. I just love the humour he brings to the many situations. There are many great scenes but one of my favourites has to be the one with the Korean shop owner with the extortionate prices as the build up and then destroying of the shop with a baseball bat is just brilliant (clip below). Love the "do you know how much money my country has given your country?" part, it just cracks me up every time.
Another great scene is the passing through on the golf course and who can forget the whammy burger breakfast encounter, both absolutely hilarious!
As good as Michael Douglas's acting is though in pretty much every scene, the whole film is expertly directed by Joel Schumacher who must also be given great credit for bringing everything together brilliantly. For me this is also the best film he has directed in his long career (although I did very much enjoy Tigerland and Phone Booth). For this film alone I can certainly forgive him for the Batman & Robin abomination.
FALLING DOWN focuses on many themes during its running time. One of the strongest themes in the movie is the decline of society and civility. Throughout the film, D-FENS is confronted by intolerant, angry, and arrogant characters that show no politeness or courteousness. His reaction varies in each of the situations he finds himself in, but his patience with them declines as his day continues, and the resolution of each one is increasingly violent in character. Los Angeles is depicted as a polluted city that is unclean and dominated by criminal gangs and inhabited by the diseased and homeless. Essentially, Schumacher uses the location as a microcosm of American society at this time, which in the early 1990s was experiencing numerous negative social impacts, including recession, high crime rates and the 1992 L.A. riots.
The movie poster declared the film as a tale of urban reality and for me it really is. I think all of us at some point in our lives can relate to the D-FENS character as the strains of everyday life and the modern world can often overpower us, make us angry and make us sad to the point where we become completely disillusioned with our lives and just want to lash out at all the unfairness we often encounter in this world, whether it be at home, work or in society. The film dares to show us what can happen when we are pushed to breaking point and I think this is why I love it so much. To my mind there really hasn't been a film quite like it since it was made and for me it really has stood the test of time and is relevant even more to this day. If by some chance you haven't experienced it I urge you to go and find it on DVD and enjoy. For those who, like me, have seen it many times, I think it might just be time for another re-watch.
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