FALLING DOWN opens with a scene of a nightmarish L.A. traffic jam in which drivers are driven to distraction by boredom, frustration, noise and heat. If you manage to sit through this film, you will know just how they feel.
Stuck in that jam is a disgruntled defense worker (Michael Douglas) suffering the combined pressures of unemployment, divorce, and a haircut someone must have given him as an April Fool's joke. As the tension is ham-fistedly turned up, it becomes clear that something is very wrong. A bead of
sweat runs down Douglas's face; a fly lands on his neck; perhaps, off-camera, someone makes a joke about his buttock-baring scene in BASIC INSTINCT.
Released:
1993
Rated:
R
Length:
115 mins