Falling Down
Rent & Buy
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
What critics thought
A film critics couldn't agree how to read: some saw a sharp, darkly comic portrait of American disillusionment with a career-best Michael Douglas, while others found it morally evasive — eager to frame its vigilante as both hero and villain without earning either. The racial politics drew particular scrutiny on release, and retrospective views have only sharpened that divide.
“Falling Down encourages a gloating sense that we the long-suffering victims are finally getting our splendid revenge. The ultimate hollowness of that kind of triumph reflects the shallowness of a film all too eager to serve it up.”
Kenneth Turan·Los Angeles Times
“This guy is you, the movie suggests, and if not you exactly, then maybe the guy you're one or two bad breaks from becoming. At one time or another, we've all thought these thoughts, and so when this downtrodden, laid-off, teed-off L.A. defense worker gets out of his car on a sweltering day in the middle of rush hour and decides he's not going to take any more, it comes as no surprise”
Hal Hinson·The Washington Post
“There's no denying the power of the tale or of Douglas's riveting performance—his best and riskiest since Wall Street. Douglas neither demonizes nor canonizes this flawed character. Marching across a violent urban landscape toward an illusory home, this shattered Everyman is never less than real”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“A few times every year, Hollywood makes a mistake, violates formula, and actually makes a great picture. Falling Down is one of the great mistakes of 1993, a film too good and too original to win any Oscars, but one bound to be remembered in years to come as a true and ironic statement about life in our time.”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“profoundly hateful film disguised alternately (and erratically) as either tragedy or humor”
Tasha Robinson·The A.V. Club
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Joel SchumacherDirector
Michael DouglasD-Fens
Robert DuvallPrendergast
Barbara HersheyBeth
Rachel TicotinSandra
Tuesday WeldMrs. Prendergast
Frederic ForrestSurplus Store Owner
Lois SmithD-Fens' Mother
Joey SingerAdele (Beth's Child)
Ebbe Roe SmithGuy on Freeway
Michael Paul ChanMr. Lee
Raymond J. BarryCaptain Yardley
D.W. MoffettDetective Lydecker
James Newton HowardComposerEbbe Roe SmithWriter
Andrzej BartkowiakCinematographyFalling Down
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
What critics thought
A film critics couldn't agree how to read: some saw a sharp, darkly comic portrait of American disillusionment with a career-best Michael Douglas, while others found it morally evasive — eager to frame its vigilante as both hero and villain without earning either. The racial politics drew particular scrutiny on release, and retrospective views have only sharpened that divide.
“Falling Down encourages a gloating sense that we the long-suffering victims are finally getting our splendid revenge. The ultimate hollowness of that kind of triumph reflects the shallowness of a film all too eager to serve it up.”
Kenneth Turan·Los Angeles Times
“This guy is you, the movie suggests, and if not you exactly, then maybe the guy you're one or two bad breaks from becoming. At one time or another, we've all thought these thoughts, and so when this downtrodden, laid-off, teed-off L.A. defense worker gets out of his car on a sweltering day in the middle of rush hour and decides he's not going to take any more, it comes as no surprise”
Hal Hinson·The Washington Post
“There's no denying the power of the tale or of Douglas's riveting performance—his best and riskiest since Wall Street. Douglas neither demonizes nor canonizes this flawed character. Marching across a violent urban landscape toward an illusory home, this shattered Everyman is never less than real”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“A few times every year, Hollywood makes a mistake, violates formula, and actually makes a great picture. Falling Down is one of the great mistakes of 1993, a film too good and too original to win any Oscars, but one bound to be remembered in years to come as a true and ironic statement about life in our time.”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“profoundly hateful film disguised alternately (and erratically) as either tragedy or humor”
Tasha Robinson·The A.V. Club
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Joel SchumacherDirectorMichael DouglasD-FensRobert DuvallPrendergastBarbara HersheyBethRachel TicotinSandraTuesday WeldMrs. PrendergastFrederic ForrestSurplus Store OwnerLois SmithD-Fens' MotherJoey SingerAdele (Beth's Child)Ebbe Roe SmithGuy on FreewayMichael Paul ChanMr. LeeRaymond J. BarryCaptain YardleyD.W. MoffettDetective LydeckerJames Newton HowardComposerEbbe Roe SmithWriterAndrzej BartkowiakCinematographyRent & Buy