Falling Down

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “A few times every year, Hollywood makes a mistake, violates formula and actually makes a great picture. Falling Down is one of the great mistakes of 1993, a film too good and too original to win any Oscars but one bound to be remembered in years to come as a true and ironic statement about life in our time. [26 Feb 1993, p.D1]”

  Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle · 100

• “Falling Down is the most interesting, all-out commercial American film of the year to date, and one that will function much like a Rorschach test to expose the secrets of those who watch it.”

  Vincent Canby, The New York Times · 90

• “While the morality of D-Fens methods are questionable, there's a resonance about his reaction to everyday annoyances, and Michael Douglas' hypnotic performance makes it memorable.”

  Philip Thomas, Empire · 80

• “Falling Down does a good job of representing a real feeling in our society today. It would be a shame if it is seen only on a superficial level.”

  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times · 75

• “Schumacher could have exploited those tabloid headlines about solid citizens going berserk. Instead, the timely, gripping Falling Down puts a human face on a cold statistic and then dares us to look away.”

  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone · 75