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Falling Down (1993)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 6/04, 2/24

FallDown
2/24: For Falling Down, Michael Douglas tries to do what Robert De Niro and Peter Boyle did in Taxi Driver and Joe, respectively, but fail.

Part of the film's downfall is putting too much emphasis on Robert Duvall's character and his dysfunctional relationship with his wife. I don't see how they're relevant to the problems William Foster is having. Imagine redoing the Scorsese classic, but this time, half the attention goes to some burned-out cop with wife issues. The next problem is featuring Rachel Ticotin a lot. It's not necessary, either.

The longer the show goes on, the less interesting William Foster becomes. He's just an angry white guy who's easily ticked off by the little issues. Time has passed him by as he's obviously a relic from the 60's. Remember the scene when the detective said the grocer was a Korean and he's a Japanese? Ha! He's actually South Korean while the other guy is Chinese. Gee whiz...I wasn't that confused, but nice try anyway.

All in all, whatever the message it's supposed to send, Falling Down fails to drive the point home.