This is the third of three consecutive reviews about mental illness.
One of my dad's favorite movies is Network, and one of his favorite quotes is "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" Most of us leave it at just that, going back to our mundane lives, but William Foster takes it to another level. Snapping when he's stuck in LA gridlock during a brutal heat wave, he takes a baseball bat, and eventually some guns from a gang, and goes on a rampage trying to get home to celebrate his daughter's 8th birthday. When Sgt. Prendergast goes to investigate and asks Foster's family some questions, they discover he has been laid off and is suffering from mental illness.
This is a very divisive film. Some critics have called it "tone deaf." Some said "Falling Down is replete with gallows humor, almost to the point where it could be classified as a 'black comedy." The film is "an anti-Odyssey story" about "the lie of the American Dream.""I can't remember laughing so hard in a movie." I thought Vincent Camby had the most interesting review: "This film is like a rorschach test exposing the secrets of those who watch it." I think calling the film "tone deaf" because of the targets he goes after (a McDonald's like chain, a golf course, a convenience store) all shows that he is frustrated like the rest of us, but doesn't have the means to control his anger. Which raises the point of what if we are somewhat ill letting cheap extortion push us around? Ultimately though, like Howard Beale in Network, he is just a sad man, as sad as the rest of the people who go after these easy targets in rants at McDonald's, or even from the anonymity of their own comfortable homes.
If there's one problem I had with the film is that simultaneous to Foster's rampage is Sgt. Prendergast's last day on the force before retirement. He is played by the understated but bizarrely chipper Robert Duvall. He seems, while not carefree, not saddened or even fazed about what's happening. When Prendergast kills Foster, he calmly tells the ex-wife with a smirk "well I'm late for my retirement party." Also hasn't the "I had one/two/three days to retirement" gag played out.
Rating ***1/2 stars out of 4
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