"Falling Down" - good movie or bad one?

[Deja Q]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106856/

Ignore the director of the film, this is in no way a campfest...

[ForrestGump]

1. I sometimes -- too often, on some days -- have little

Falling Down moments.

Actually, yesterday I was told that they stopped serving breakfast at Taco Bell (I recently wandered in, early in the morning, and discovered the 99-cent magnificence of the Breakfast Gordita) at 10 AM. The time was 10:02. I stood there for a second or two too long, channeling Michael Douglas' clenched jaw, before ordering a seven-layer burrito (good choice, by the way, if you want a cheap, filling, non-suspect-meat bit of food). If I'd had an uzi...

[CanuckAmok]

2. It had potential...

...I just think it faltered on several points, and ultimately, with the exception of a few scenes (the one in the burger joint, to name but one), not memorable.

I think Fight Club said the same thing, much more effectively.

[gmoney]

3. Mildly interesting factoid

I took a screenwriting class a few years ago, and there is a standard by-the-book "structure" for a lot of mainstream movie arcs, dictating points in the action where things are supposed to happen, etc. and "Falling Down" is an extremely literal expression of them, almost like it's result of an exercise or something.

I wish I remembered all of them, but two that come to mind are that he mentions "The point of no return" where it's longer to go back to the start than to go to the end and he does it exactly in the point of the movie where the character arc reaches what "the book" refers to as the point of no return. As if the character knows he's in a movie.

The second is that right after he makes the switch from good guy to bad guy, he changes from his white shirt into a black shirt (when he offs Frederic Forrest in the Army surplus store back room).

Also, I don't think Douglas' character actually has a name in the movie... so therefore he's every man? (Just like the narrator in Fight Club)

[frylock]

4. and that was the problem i had with it..

far too formulaic. And yes, I'm the one who voted bad movie.

[Kat45]

5. I liked it, but wasn't happy about where they went with it.

I could identify with how he was feeling and his reactions, and I thought the movie would have been more interesting if they hadn't turned him into a 'bad guy.' But of course, it would have required a kind of depth that most movies aren't interested in exploring.

[AP]

6. A little racist, if you ask me. It's about a white middle class guy who's

having problems dealing with life. And what are the sources of his problems? Immigrants, black people and women (IIRC).

Sounds like a version of America that George Bush relies on to get votes.

[ForrestGump]

7. Not entirely, though

The rich white Republicans at the golf course and Frederic Forrest's neoNAzi surplus store owner leap to mind.

Also, a lot of films that feature a racist/xenophobic main character are making statements contrary to that character's viewpoint. I see the film mainly as a compendium of the constant, tiny, urban annoyances -- and this includes arbitrary rules, whether applied to junk food or not, and the smarmy dweebs who enforce their measly piece of the power pie -- that can conspire to quietly drive you nuts on a hot summer day. Or at any other time. And, of course, there's the classic "I want to go home" theme going on, as well.

[baldguy]

8. Good movie

But...you do realize that its a freeper fantasy - middle-aged white male, ostracized & put-upon by society - gets to go on a murder spree against all that oppresses him.

[jmowreader]

14. It wasn't a murder spree

He only killed two people--the army-surplus store Nazi and the golfer he forced into cardiac arrest.

The Korean shopkeeper was still alive.
The gangbangers were all still alive.
The guy who got the pay phone shot out from under him was still alive.
All the people at Whammyburger were still alive.
As were the road-construction crew.
And the guy who hadn't eaten in a week, well except for this.

Even Rachel Ticotin was still alive, and he shot her.

Rampage yes. Murder spree no.

[NashVegas]

16. That Was the Reactionary Hype

When that movie came out, every other month there was a story in the news about some guy flipping out and killing his family or co-workers. Before the movie came out, NOW and some other womens' organizations were perceived as being all over Michael Douglas like flies on shit.

That general era, Douglas was into his "let's piss off the feminists" phase.

[rucky]

9. Shit sandwich. eom.

[gmoney]

15. Life is like a shit sandwich

...the more bread you have, the less shit you have to eat.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

10. I was disappointed

they could have really went somewhere with the opening concept, but instead they just turned him into another nutcase having a divorce.

[ForrestGump]

11. Yeah, that could have been better

I'd have had him fall afoul of more petty annoyances, the kinds of mildly aggravating things that pop up every day. His disproportionate response to the unavailable menu item, for example, was a classic.

[jmowreader]

13. His response to what they served him was even better

I am still trying to figure out how they managed to get a five-minute-old Whammyburger to look like it was three hours old, though.

"Now look at this...this ridiculous...squashed thing. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture? Anyone at all?"

[jmowreader]

12. Every guy in America has wanted to do that at least once

The going off all day with absolutely no moral compass to guide you part, not the getting shot by the cop on his last day on the force before he retires to Havasu City with his micromanager of a wife, that is.