Synopsis
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
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Cast
- Michael DouglasD-Fens
- Robert DuvallPrendergast
- Barbara HersheyBeth
- Rachel TicotinSandra
- Tuesday WeldMrs. Prendergast
- Frederic ForrestSurplus Store Owner
- Lois SmithD-Fens' Mother
- Ebbe Roe SmithGuy on Freeway
- Michael Paul ChanMr. Lee
- Raymond J. BarryCaptain Yardley
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
Falling Down is the most interesting, all-out commercial American film of the year to date, and one that will function much like a Rorschach test to expose the secrets of those who watch it. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Falling Down does a good job of representing a real feeling in our society today. It would be a shame if it is seen only on a superficial level. - 75
Rolling Stone
Schumacher could have exploited those tabloid headlines about solid citizens going berserk. Instead, the timely, gripping Falling Down puts a human face on a cold statistic and then dares us to look away. - 70
Washington Post
Douglas's intentionally robotic -- and intense -- performance holds its own. He's scary, normal and funny all at once. - 63
ReelViews
Sure, the viewer who wants to see a tightly-paced thriller with gun-play and emotionally-satisfying moments won't be disappointed, but there is a little more here than simple escapism. Although it takes a number of wrong turns, Falling Down still has the power to disturb. - 50
Austin Chronicle
D-FENS is a cut-out, a cartoon Everyman we're supposed to feel sorry for and can't. He's a bad parody in what will doubtless be an over-analyzed film about loss of control. It's just too bad nobody on the creative end seems to have had much control either. - 50
Washington Post
Douglas again takes on the symbolic mantle of the Zeitgeist. But in Falling Down, he and Schumacher want to have their cake and eat it too; they want him to be a hero and a villain, and it just won't work. - 50
Boston Globe
Slickly directed by Joel Schumacher, who sees that each and every button in this unabashedly manipulative film is pushed hard, Falling Down could have been deeply disturbing if it weren't so cartoony, so determined to glibly escape the moral consequences of the vicarious white-rampage fantasies to which it caters. [26 Feb 1993, p.25]
