`Falling Down” seems to be a film made by middle-class white guys who have one thing in common: bigotry thinly disguised as frustration with the “everyday world.”
This ultra-conservative fuel powers D-FENS (Michael Douglas), a recently laid-off defense worker whose quirks range from carrying nothing but his lunch in his briefcase to picking on nine out of 10 minorities who pass him on the street.
The racism in “Falling Down” is sickening. After D-FENS (the main character is more easily recognized by his license plate than his rarely used name) destroys a Korean-owned convenience store, he justifies it by saying “I’m just standing up for my rights as a consumer.”
On the rare occasions where D-FENS attacks, either verbally or physically, a paleface, the targets are so obvious audiences must wonder whether screenwriter Ebbe Roe Smith was inspired by “Saturday Night Live” or Home Shopping Network.
It’s really tough to get an audience to hate neo-Nazis and Douglas Smith, and director Joel Schumacher (“Flatliners”) really go out on a limb when they accuse fast food restaurants of being ripoff joints.
This is the second film in a row where Douglas has been said to give a “daring” performance. In the first, “Basic Instinct,” he took off his clothes and let the audience see his body. Here he reveals something less pleasant to look at, hatred and ignorance. One half star
