Rating: 
Summary: Life Contained Within A Glass Ball
Review: The Adventure of An Ordinary Man at War With the Everyday World. Michael Douglas puts in a Stupendous performance as Bill Foster [D-Fense], A man with problems in his life that denied him to have that beautifle home to come to after a long day at work, and to forget about it only at the sight of your little girl's smile. Robert Duvall, oscar winner, is an officer on his last day at retierment, on the other side of the door, dealing with the same things Douglas is but instead of saying "Thats it enough of this crap, all those pretty people in their own worlds tryin to be smart and funney while I get the stiff" like Douglas, Duvall takes it as his wife lost her figure, and a piece of her mind, giving birth to a child only to lose it at 2 years old, and all of his "fellow Officers", including one cocky son of a gun, that give him junk about his retiering. This became an original, directed by Joel Schumacher, extreme acting here, especially Douglas who won an academy award, and also mixing some very dark humor with all of the rampage he does, noting the drive-by.......slow tempered yet increases with a strikeful ending! The DVD version of this film has one sarcastic Theatrical Trailor, but seeing how its such a great movie its worth it, and those of you who are contemplating on actually seeing the movie, your hearin it here that its a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Appropriate film for the dotcom meltdown
Review: Well, he is not quite a 20-something unemployed script-kiddie, heh. Many reviewers describe Douglas as 'violent', but what is surprising is his calmness and matter-of-fact reaction to the situations confronting him. It is a unique and uncanny attitude and a performance without any equal that I have ever seen before in film.
Some of the key scenes are very funny in a surreal way. Such as the scene of the switchblade knife 'how do they do that?', and the golf course scene (my favorite), and the highway repair scene, which has got to be one of the funniest in the film.
The film also deals with the despair of marriage and divorce, both Douglas and Duvall are dealing with very realistic and dysfunctional marriages that are portrayed in a believable way. We can see both Douglas' role in his marriage breakup as well as the wife's role.
Douglas' character is so pitiful in just wanting to 'go home' and be at his daughter's birthday party, but it is a world that is closed to him, somewhat unfairly, just as the world of work is now closed to him. Both characters as males actually come off somewhat sympathetically, though they have their faults, in contrast to so much over-the-top PC feminism in movies these days.
So many people are actually going through both of these situations now in real life, it is amazing there arent more incidents of this sort happening.
The film reminds me of 'Network' in a way, being a social critique outlining the reasons for being 'mad as hell and not going to take it anymore'.
Rating:
Summary: Comfortable identifying with the wrong side?
Review: Maybe I'm sick, but I sometimes feel like D-Fens.In a world where there's just too much happening the wrong way, the hero of this movie starts unravelling. He abandons his car and violently tours LA on foot. He's completely broken, and I found myself watching with increasing The movie resolves to an unfortunate end. Maybe people who are healthier than I am don't identify with this protagonist, but I do. And those feelings make the character's end controversial. As a screenplay, this is a wonderful movie. There are interesting subtleties that I enjoy finding and examining each time I watch. I found the sound quality to be pretty good, though it was rather flat--this isn't the right DVD to show off your surround sound system. The picture is acceptable; many sbutly lit scenes have grainy artifacts that are a bit distracting from the scene details.
Rating:
Summary: Greg Przyk's review
Review: Well first of all this movie had touched me in a way that was very frightening and sad because Douglas was the exact character as my father in real life. this movie was like history repeating its self all over again because in the movie Michael Douglas had looked exactly the same as my father had the same name(Bill)and has the same problems as he does(similar personalities). In the beginning of the movie when he was in the car that is when Douglas had the anxiety attack and stepped out of his car and decided to go home(exactly like something my father would do!). The part where he was talking to the worker sitting down on the road telling douglas that they were fixing the street; and Douglas told him:" there isn't anything wrong with the street!", and shortly after he told him: I'll give you something to fix", that's when I knew that this movie was exactly like my fathers own life, I was shocked... This movie was very well done Michael Douglas did an excellent job playing the role of Bill Foster (A.K.A., my dad). this movie had real good parts and the suspense left me hanging for more. this movie maid me cry, laugh, and made me think, but I was sad at the end when he killed himself because he finally knew that he was sick and there was nothing he could do about it, so if he died his little girl would get the insurance, so it did not matter for him anyway. there is much more that I could say but which I cannot, the last thing that I want to say is that this is the best damn movie I have ever seen. Greg Przyk
Rating: 
Summary: Close, but No Cigar
Review: This movie is supposed to be about righteous indignation. Douglas's character wants to walk down the street without being hassled. He wants to buy a can of pop without being ripped off. He wants civility, common courtesy, common sense and a little freedom and when he's had enough, he fights back! Yeah, it's a bit of a cheap and manipulative setup, but it works, at least for a while. The movie might have been something special had it followed its original course to completion. But in the end, the Douglas character is no hero. He is not fighting for the Everyman, for decency, for respect. He is simply an abusive control freak who has a temper tantrum because he's having a bad day. He'd rather kill himself and leave his daughter fatherless than deal with the annoyances and indignities that are germane to being an adult resident on the Planet Earth. What a pointless waste. The film teases with social commentary and then backs away. It stirs up the audience with Douglas as "righteous warrior" and then abandons him in the end as a pitiful, irresponsible, abusive weakling. Why? "Falling Down" ultimately does exactly that: It falls down with a thud.
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Summary: the point of an important movie, Leonard Maltin is worthless
Review: the point is that there isn't right or wrong to many situations. When we have a breakdown, it's naive to think that Hollywood offers any realistic portrayal of life, this movie explores those boundaries by giving us a good man gone wrong. This is how and why you can root for Douglas's character in the movie, "D-Fens". You can relate, as other reviews have mentioned, to the breakdown of the American dream, of the degradation of our society into consumerism, materialism, selfishness. We don't have communities anymore, and we don't have families anymore, all we have are commercials. We are lied to, spit upon, and taken for granted. No segment of the population fits this mold more than the quiet, conservative white male. I am no advocate for violence, certainly not for the society in which I see portrayed in this movie. But I have to concede that it is much closer to reality, and closer to the situations faced most days and more frequently than 99% of the crap put out by Hollywood. This is an important film and I highly recommend it. Further viewing along similar lines are 1995's "heat", 1997's "Seven", 1999's "fight club"
Rating: 
Summary: Dynamite Douglas Redeems Weak Script
Review: This so-called "Tale of Urban Reality" is too cynical to be taken seriously, but Douglas is so good it's irresistible. This story parallels Douglas, who was sacked from his previous job building missles to defend a country he once believed in, with L.A. Police Investigator Duvall (as always, a real treat). Duvall's wife (Tuesday Weld) is planning his retirement after losing their young girl to S.I.D.S. Douglas, on the other hand, is initially trying to keep a cool head, looking for work and wants to visit divorced wife (Barbara Hershey) for their little girl's birthday. Hershey in no way wants to see Douglas - a man she claims formerly verbally abused her - presumably from everyday job stress. Tension build-up from an early morning traffic jam drives innocent Douglas to walk the streets of L.A. to his girl's birthday, in which he encounters events and people that would drive even Fred Rogers insane. Dreary, and way too cyncical portrait of "everyday life" combined with weak transitions between two undeveloped characters will confuse most viewers of the connection that Duvall and Douglas share. Yet, Douglas's confrontations with L.A. slimb and grimb yield classic, unforgettable moments. A must-see for Douglas fans. Douglas truly carries the film to levels where even the viewers can connect with his struggle. However, the ending will turn viewers away. Judge for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: my collection
Review: from the first time is saw this picture,i was amazed that mr. Douglas would star in this movie.kudos to him. watch this i see the true life insanity and deep injustices that actually graces our every home and street.this movie happens to tap in the life just a little bit."not economically viable"speaks so so true. i never get tired of seeing this over and over again. this movie has many strong messages. this to me is a "classic"film..
Rating:
Summary: Another scathing indictment of our society . . .
Review: ... One part revenge of the marginalized, one part social commentary, this is a film that wanders in and out of being the bearer of a significant and disturbing message and being just another tale about some unstable, blame everybody else for his problems headcase having a meltdown and going postal. This is a movie that is much better and more though-provoking movie than [other people] let on. Are there stereotypes? To be sure, but not without some sound basis. It is finely acted. And Schumacher's directing is on par with the work he did in Grisham's *A Time to Kill.* A thought provoking and disturbing movie. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: It's in the glass
Review: One thing I think a lot of people miss when watching this film is that it's not simply about a guy who snaps one day and goes off the deep end. Many things contribute to push D-Fens over the edge, but I'd bet that even if he lived in a quiet New England town he'd still eventually lose it. You realize this when D-Fens is watching the home movies near the end of the film, when he sees that he's always been the way he is. It's not like he had an idyllic marriage and things aligned against him to screw up his life; he was destined to self-destruct because of his very nature. I think there's symbolism in the scene involving D-Fens's mother and Duvall's character when she says that her current favorite animal figure is the skunk, and that the stripe isn't painted on, "it's in the glass".
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