Falling Down (1993)

An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writer:

Ebbe Roe Smith

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	D-Fens
Robert Duvall	...	Prendergast
Barbara Hershey	...	Beth
Rachel Ticotin	...	Sandra
Tuesday Weld	...	Mrs. Prendergast
Frederic Forrest	...	Surplus Store Owner
Lois Smith	...	D-Fens' Mother
Joey Singer	...	Adele (Beth's Child) (as Joey Hope Singer)
Ebbe Roe Smith	...	Guy on Freeway
Michael Paul Chan	...	Mr. Lee
Raymond J. Barry	...	Captain Yardley
D.W. Moffett	...	Detective Lydecker
Steve Park	...	Detective Brian
Kimberly Scott	...	Detective Jones
James Keane	...	Detective Keene

Storyline

On the day of his daughter's (Joey Singer) birthday, William "D-Fens" Foster (Michael Douglas) is trying to get to his estranged ex-wife's (Barbara Hershey) house to see his daughter. He has a breakdown and leaves his car in a traffic jam in Los Angeles and decides to walk. Along the way he stops at a convenience store and tries to get some change for a phone call but the owner, Mister Lee (Michael Paul Chan), does not give him change. This destabilizes William who then breaks apart the shop with a baseball bat and goes to an isolated place to drink a coke. Two gangsters (Agustin Rodriguez & Eddie Frias) threaten him and he reacts by hitting them with the bat. D-FENS continues walking and stops at a phone booth. The gangsters hunt him down with their gang and shoot at him but crash their car. William goes nuts and takes their gym bag with weapons proceeding in his journey of rage against injustice. Meanwhile Sergeant Martin Prendergast (Robert Duvall), who is working on his last day ...

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Plot Keywords:

rage | alienation | urban decay | social commentary | downward spiral | 

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Taglines:

A Tale Of Urban Reality

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and strong language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Duvall and Rachel Ticotin later appeared in Nicolas Cage movies produced by Jerry Bruckheimer: Ticotin in Con Air (1997) and Duvall in Gone in 60 Seconds (2000).

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Goofs

The crack on Bill's right lens in the second half of the movie appears to vanish at some points but this is just a trick of the light - when Bill faces directly into the camera, because the frame is undamaged and holding the cracked lens firmly in place, the crack is very difficult to see but still just about visible.

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Quotes

Bill Foster: I've passed the point of no return. Do you know what that is, Beth? That's the point in a journey where it's longer to go back to the beginning. It's like when those astronauts got in trouble. I don't know, somebody messed up, and they had to get them back to Earth. But they had passed the point of no return. They were on the other side of the moon and were out of contact for like hours. Everybody waited to see if a bunch of dead guys in a can would pop out the other side. Well, that's me. I'm ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

"London Bridge is Falling Down" plays briefly at the very end of the credits.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Mid-Life Crisis Movies (2016)

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Soundtracks

I DIDN'T SLIP, I WASN'T PUSHED, I FELL
Written by Eddie Pola and George Wyle

User Reviews

Since when did the average hard working middle class person became the bad guy?

I first saw this in the mid 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently on a blu-ray. I thoroughly enjoyed viewing this again after so many years. This movie is still relevant today no matter which country u belong to. Michael Douglas' hypnotic performance is the highlight of this film. Everything about him, from his half sleeve plain white shirt, to his briefcase, his lunch, his specs and his torn shoes all screamed average middle class. The best line of the film is when Douglas asks Duvall, I am the bad guy?

I don't know but I was laughing my guts out while viewing this film. The guy who played the neo Nazi is creepy n hilarious. The cosmetic surgeon's house scene, the golf ground scene, the burger scene n the store scene, I found all these scenes darkly comical. Douglas' middle class person act is mind blowing. He potrayed the character who has to go thru everyday nuances very well. Working hard still ain't able to purchase a house, non payment of rent, road n traffic issues, employment issues, etc. The effect of consumerism has on each of us is dealt with properly in this film. The funny part is that the rich doesn't care about inflation or monetary probs, the poor gets government n ngo's aid while the middle class is stuck between em like a sandwich. The government doesn't care about him, they care about vote banks and that lies within the poor community.

Details

Country:

USA France UK

Language:

English Spanish Korean

Release Date:

26 February 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Falling Down

Filming Locations:

MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,724,452, 28 February 1993

Gross USA:

$40,903,593

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,903,593

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alcor Films, Canal+, New Regency Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1