Falling Down

I feel like this movie's poster has endured more than anything in the movie itself- look at Michael Douglas up there, standing in the middle of a park in some run-down part of Los Angeles, looking at once both incredibly nerdy with his short-sleeved collared shirt and incredibly dangerous with a huge gun. He's the iconic "angry white male", and Falling Down is a simple story of what happens when this middle-aged man snaps. After divorcing his wife and being forcefully kept out of his daughter's life, he gets fired and then stuck in traffic on his way home, so Michael Douglas basically goes insane and spouts talking points about how much society has changed since the old days and how everything's gone to shit. He uses this as an excuse to just go on a rampage, killing whoever bothers him in an attempt to get to his daughter's birthday party. Credit where credit's due, Douglas puts on a great performance as someone who doesn't take pleasure in the destruction he's causing, but just seems like a confused man who's tired of the way things are. The movie can definitely be construed as a very very dark comedy as many of the little annoyances that set the guy off are things we can all relate to even if they don't send us on a killing spree; still though in a few months I don't think I'll remember much about Falling Down past its lead's great performance.