Falling Down (1993)

- even though the poster for this movie only features Michael Douglas this movie is as much about Los Angeles Police Detective Pendergast (Robert Duvall) as it is about Michael Douglas' character who is only credited as D-FENS in the end credits (which is his license plate number) but who's name is revealed to be Bill Foster in the course of the movie
- the back stories for both men are slowly revealed as the movie unfolds
- D-FENS is a disgruntled man who has gotten fired from his job and can't seem to accept for the world for what it is; he seems to believe fiercely in a version of the American dream which leads him do things such as smash up a convenience store when he feels he is being overcharged for a can of Coke and pull a gun at a fast food restaurant when they refuse to serve him breakfast after 11:30 AM
- Pendergast is about to retire and move from Los Angeles to Arizona; he seems devoted to his wife but doesn't seem to know how to stand up to her; he had a daughter who dies when she was very young; he gets badgered quite a bit by his coworkers because it is his last day on the job
- in a big way the movie seems to be about how one reacts to the pressures that he or she encounters on a daily basis and at pivotal times in their lives; both D-FENS and Pendergast seem like before the movie started they were the quiet reserved type who kept their emotions in check; D-FENS gets off that track at the beginning of the movie and never gets back on it; Pendergast does his best to stay on the track but in the end in a telephone encounter with his wife, with how he deals with a coworker who insults his wife, and how he deals with D-FENS jumps off the track at least temporarily to deal with the situation at hand
- most of the humor in the movie or at least the more memorable humorous moments seem to involve D-FENS and the culture shock he experiences as the day progresses
- it isn't until the last ten minutes of the movie that D-FENS and Pendergast finally meet
- the supporting cast includes Barbara Hershey (as D-FENS ex-wife), Tuesday Weld as Pendergast's wife, and Rachel Ticotin as his partner
- the movie opened stronger than it closed, not a great movie but a solidly good one in my book; I was more impressed with Michael Douglas' performance than I was with Robert Duvall's