Movie ''Falling down''

Great movie. Remember driving to an AV shop in Bristol and spending £45 to buy on imported laserdisc, back in the day.

Yes I thought it was a bit of a cop out after most of the movie to then retcon him as being a whack job anyway. As regards suicide by cop, maybe he realised he would not last 5 minutes in prison, if US jails are anything like what’s shown in the movies.
 
There was a joke at the legal firm I used to work at where my mates photoshopped my head onto the poster when management decided I could do a teams worth of work solo and I was stressed to the point of nosebleeds.

Needless to say I moved on :)

Back on topic: I do love this film and watch it once every couple of years, maybe more
 
Not watched for a while but I was telling my mrs that it should be on the watch list.

I quite liked the ending, we know he is a nutter most of the way through but it shocks him that instead of the crusader he thinks he is it is actually him who is the bad guy in everyone else's eyes.
 
BeeP said:
Not watched for a while but I was telling my mrs that it should be on the watch list.

I quite liked the ending, we know he is a nutter most of the way through but it shocks him that instead of the crusader he thinks he is it is actually him who is the bad guy in everyone else's eyes.
Click to expand...

I would agree with that.

And as a viewer, for MOST of the film, he IS the good guy but at the same time, NOT the good guy, if that make sense?

He definitely rights some wrongs in the world.
 
I remember watching this film years ago. And recently i'd been trying to think what it was called. All i remember is the Dfens number plate.

Deffo will be watching again this week !
 
Saw God Bless America recently which has some similar restorative justice traites, cinema scene.

Hadn't realised it was Groundhog Day yeseterday /2nd another great movie with a simple message -
 
Gimpymoo said:
I would agree with that.

And as a viewer, for MOST of the film, he IS the good guy but at the same time, NOT the good guy, if that make sense?

He definitely rights some wrongs in the world.
Click to expand...

100% makes sense and probably says it better than I tried to, at the risk of sounding like a loon myself I was on his side for a lot of it. I think they get you on side by putting things in the film they know irritate most people, picture of a burger you will never get, traffic jams, roadworks etc. It is his reactions to life's niggles that are OTT.....but brilliant.
 
I'm going to disagree a little. My take on it was...

I don't think he was a nutter before the start of the film. He was a family man, living the American dream, whose life had started falling apart. It shows what's inside all of us if we are pushed too far. He lost his job. He lost his family. He probably hated his job but it gave him a sense of purpose despite a horrendous commute every day. He felt lied to. Despite doing the "right thing" throughout his life he realised he was just there to be taken advantage of by everyone from his employer, his wife, thieves who felt they could just take what they wanted from him and even fast food shops which bait and switch great looking pictures of food for terrible quality food. It pushed him over the edge and once that veneer of civility had cracked, he allowed the crack to open wider and wider. That had started at the beginning of the film but he was a normal guy just a few months before that.

Robert Duvall could have gone the same way. But he found a career that did give him satisfaction and purpose and his marriage survived. That's the point of the film; to show that we could each crumble in the same way but some people are lucky to find satisfaction and support in their lives. Even the title of the film is about someone falling down, or tripping over. Before the trip they would have just been an average guy.

We've all had moments when we've almost lashed out at someone but managed to control ourselves. Now turn that frusration up a few notches and see if you can keep the same composure.

He felt lied to and had nothing more to lose.
 
I think there are many ways you could interpret it - none of them necessarily wrong.

IMO in the final bit he is frustrated that the sergeant sees the world so black and white, despite everything he has been through still conditioned by what society has told him is the way to think and act, etc. and he is determined to push it until he either get a glimmer of awakening to a different perspective from the sergeant or shot to make a point.

When he says "I'm the bad guy" and "How did that happen" it is more trying to make the sergeant think - think about how he became the bad guy, etc. - than it is a revelation or awakening to him - more a resigned shrug of final acceptance than surprise - though at the same time I don't think he wanted to face the truth of it either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom