Does anybody else like the movie "Falling Down"?

Hashishiin

Hashishiin

Joined
Dec 29, 2021
Messages
4,138
"I'm just standing up for my rights as a consumer!"

This is a witty, funny, sign-of-the-times movie, that I know THIS crowd would appreciate out of any crowd. Nowadays, people are too volatile and are afraid that if they enjoy this movie, they'll be seen as identifying with the main character. It's about a man, who loses it. Then we find out, it's not so cut and dry and maybe he has some mental issues and is not such a reliable narrator of events. He "falls down", and it exemplifies how close a lot of people are to snapping, how one bad day can do it all. Not to menton, it is a darkly funny movie - not in a comedy ha-ha sense, there are no outright jokes, it's just heavily sardonic and funny.

I'm almost hesitant to ask this question, because unfortunately this movie makes the sus people come out of the woodwork who think Michael Douglas from that movie is the hero. He isn't the hero, far from it. He's the victim, and the villian. Pendergast (the cop) is the hero. He dealt with all the disrespect and drudgery while doing a job that served others, and he had his own "fallling down" moment with his wife, but that consisted of taking control of his life, not lashing out at the world around him with ultimate rage.

I think this movie might be good for anyone with a mind rooted strongly in reality, because a lot of people feel the way D-FENS and Pendergast feel in this movie, they did in '96 and still do now. That sense of... "I'm a normal guy, I'm trying to get through, how much can I take?". The reason I say D-FENS is the victim AND villian, is because he did have everything taken from him, he is in a tough spot, but, as said in the movie, "That doesn't give you any special right to do what you did here today".

What do you guys think of Falling Down? Did you cheer in the theaters during the Whammy Burger Breakfast scene? I heard that happened all across the country. I don't think a movie like this would come out today. I think it'd also be taken very, very wrong by some of today's extremists, on both sides. Fun fact, this was filmed DURING the LA Riots, that is why you see all the smoke and smog in the background. This movie has a lot of points and it's very complex, that's true art in my book, it is not wrapped up easily or neatly, but it can be easily misinterpreted, I guess.

"It says all that? Well maybe if you wrote it in f-in' English I could f'in understand it."

BONUS KNIFE SCENE! Look at the butterfly knife fail in the below clip when he flips it outwards at him!
"WHERE YA GOING? YOU FORGOT THE BRIEFCASE! HEY, YOU FORGOT THE BRIEFCASE!"
 
I like Michael Douglas (as an actor) but I thought the movie was too "over the top" and couldn't bear to watch it when it 1st came out on DVD and still have no interest in watching it.
 
Triton said:
I liked the movie although I saw it as a much larger commentary on society and the white male's place in it.
Click to expand...
Well, this is the most obvious conclusion. "He's a hardworking man, he was laid off, he lost it!" and it is a good treatise on why a lot of otherwise good people are a few bad days away from this. It shows the danger of what happens when someone is, remember, "NOT ECONOMICALLY VIABLE!!!".

However, he went from smashing up a store, hurting no one, haivng a flip-out, and self-defending against gang members, to collecting a bag of guns and using very threatening language to an innocent family (at the cookout at the docs house after the golf course) holding a little girl much like his own with a shotgun in hand trying to come to terms with how terrifying he is. Bloody, holding her with a shotgun he just aimed at them, "You think "I" would hurt your family?!"... oh, banish the notion 🙄 haha.

On the flip side, of the "regular dude" facade he has, we must consider the realities. His ex says in the beginning that he can't "just come in and out whenever you feel like it, never supporting her". He lied about being laid off from job, a point of pride, to the point of toxicity... to the point of it totally deteriorating his relationship with his mother. He wished for archaic forms of punishment on his wife, and he was gonna murder/suicide 'em.

Pendergast is a white man in society who put up with the same stuff, and he knew, "he didn't have any special right to do what D-Fens did today", and he just stood up to his wife, said he is going to continue being a cop, and stood up to his boss, at the end at the interview, "Fuck you, fuck you very much sir!". Pendergast is the hero, to me. D-Fens, victim turned villian.
 
sgt1372 said:
I like Michael Douglas (as an actor) but I thought the movie was too "over the top" and couldn't bear to watch it when it 1st came out on DVD and still have no interest in watching it.
Click to expand...
Oh, the way he progresses through weapons, bat > balisong > Uzi > LAW rocket is absolutely over the top, there are some almost comedic elements, but there's something about the "vibe" of it, I cannot even describe why I like the movie so much, it's just different. Also, I have a different take than most, the cop being the hero, in my book, the one who acted like an adult.

I get you, though. Certainly is a bit "much" for some folks.
 
It is just a very unique piece of cinema, Ebbe Roe Smith came on the scene with this one movie, and disappeared.
And that minimalistic soundtrack... whoda thunk you could do so much with one guitar note and a whammy pedal?
The "WEEE-EOEOOOOOWWWW" playing through the whole movie, at 1:15 if nobody knows what I mean
 
I loved that movie when it came out. At first, I had sympathy for the main character, but that changed towards the end. A somewhat similar movie featuring Russel Crow called "Unhinged" was really good too. Another guy that just completely lost it.
 
JTR357 said:
I loved that movie when it came out. At first, I had sympathy for the main character, but that changed towards the end. A somewhat similar movie featuring Russel Crow called "Unhinged" was really good too. Another guy that just completely lost it.
Click to expand...

I couldn't watch "Unhinged" either.

The way I see it, those movies are about "loose cannons," who now would be recruited by "certain" hate groups to channel their anger towards those who are NOT like them and who they can "blame" for their problems.

Definitely a "no go" for me. :(
 
Last edited:
Absolutely LOVED IT!

I like Douglas, but I'm a huge Duvall fan. The guy is such a huge actor, so believable in every role. I think Douglas did a great job of playing a guy who is just on a slippery slope and not doing a good job of keeping it together.
 
sgt1372 said:
I couldn't watch "Unhinged" either.

The way I see it, those movies are about "loose cannons," who now would be recruited by "certain" racist groups to channel their anger towards those who are NOT like them and who they can "blame" for their problems.

Definitely a "no go" for me. :(
Click to expand...

Except as I recall (and it's been a LONG time since I saw that movie) when confronted by the nazi goon he rejected that path. I think he was basically a decent guy that society decided it no longer needed. Again it has been a while.
 
jackknife said:
Absolutely LOVED IT!

I like Douglas, but I'm a huge Duvall fan. The guy is such a huge actor, so believable in every role. I think Douglas did a great job of playing a guy who is just on a slippery slope and not doing a good job of keeping it together.
Click to expand...
Robert Duvall is totally the unsung hero of the movie IMO
 
I saw that movie when it was in the theatres and loved it. I rewatched it a year ago and still loved it.

My favorite line is from a bum in the park hitting D-Fens up for some money:
"I haven't eaten in 3 days..(looks at sandwich in hand)..well, I mean...except for this."
 
Love this movie. Recently rewatched it after finding it in the library of kodi build from this source. Even decades later, It is still a very actual film. In my opinion, it is a worrying and unnerving reflection of our society.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top