To paraphrase the famous line from "Network," Michael Douglas is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore.
Douglas plays "D-FENS," identified in the film by his personalized license plate. A Los Angeles defense worker, he's on the freeway one morning when he gets trapped in a traffic jam. But for him, it's more than just another of life's frustration — he's on the edge and about to fall off.
"Falling Down" opens with this moment as director Joel Schu-macher's camera makes a remarkable journey from Douglas' irritated face, out the window and around his car and ultimately to an overhead shot of all the other automobiles and their drivers, each angry and anxious.
Finally, when he's had enough, Douglas gets out of the car and simply walks away, briefcase in hand. He's wearing a white shirt and tie, has a pocket protector, glasses and a dweeb haircut. He's Mr. Middle America about to go berserk.
And the rest of the film chronicles his encounters with an array of social ills and how he angrily deals with them, intercut with scenes of a local policeman (Robert Duvall) who is taking early retirement. It is Duvall who begins to piece together a number of clues throughout the day and then makes a noble effort to track Douglas down and help him.
On his road tour of urban hell, Douglas goes into a minimart and has a run-in with the owner, then meets up with a pair of local gang members, eventually obtains a stash of weapons and violently takes on everything from rudeness at a fast-food restaurant to unnecessary road repairs on the high-way.
But these are merely stops along the way. As he keeps saying, "I'm going home," meaning he is trying to get to his ex-wife's house. Barbara Hershey, in a relatively thankless role, plays his wife, preparing a birthday party for her young daughter and terrified by Douglas' phone calls.
It is this attempt at providing background for Douglas' character that plays up the film's weakest element. We learn that Douglas has always pretty much been a seemingly mild-mannered, violence-prone person, seething anger beneath the surface. And since he's always been a little nuts, it's difficult for the audience to identify with him as someone who's simply had enough of the nastiness that people inflict on one another in day-to-day life.
So, when Douglas meets up with a racist military freak, who runs a surplus store (an over-the-top, wild-eyed performance by Fredric Forrest), it's necessary to make this guy worse, so we will more willingly go with what happens next.
If it is hard to identify with Douglas' character, however, the audience will certainly identify with the problems he encounters. When, for example, a quick little moment has him punching out a rude driver who is screaming at another driver, there will likely be cheers in the movie theater.
Acting honors here go to Duvall, who takes a cliche-written character, the cop on his last day, and fills him with life. Duvall continues to be one of the most reliable and natural actors of our day. Too bad he doesn't get better parts.
Still, with all its flaws, "Falling Down" will likely push a lot of buttons. At its heart, this is very dark satire, and there are a good many laughs. But there are times when one wishes that the comedy could remain with the problems being solved in less violent ways. (The first-time screenplay is credited to character actor Ebbe Roe Smith.)
"Falling Down" is rated R for violence, profanity and vulgarity.