“Falling Down” is an excellent film from director Joel Schumacher (“Batman Forever”, “The Number 23”). It reminded me a lot of “Do The Right Thing” as both films perfectly seem to capture the tensions of a hot day in a major American city. The way that “Falling Down” captures the crushing pressures of the hazy urban jungle that is L.A. is terrific.

William ‘D-Fens’ Forrester (Michael Douglas “Wall Street”, “The Game”) is a seemingly normal guy struggling to cope with modern urban living. When he becomes stuck in traffic, he ditches his car and decides to walk across Los Angeles to go ‘home’. Along the way, he has a series of encounters where he decides to respond violently.

Michael Douglas is excellent as D-Fens. The way that the film establishes how he feels bombarded by commuting in the very first scene (probably the best scene in the movie) is outstanding. Robert Duvall (“The Godfather”) is pretty good as Prendergast, a police officer that is on his last day before retirement. The day should be simple but he is soon on the trail of D-Fens. Barbara Hershey (“Black Swan”) is also really good as Beth, who is not exactly pleased at the prospect of seeing D-Fens.

“Falling Down” is a brilliant looking film and it looks great from the moment that it starts. The opening scene is fantastic and I was impressed how the movie sustained my interest throughout. I also found that the scenes involving Prendergast did not distract from the scenes with D-Fens but actually complimented them rather nicely. For those that had written off Joel Schumacher after seeing his two underwhelming “Batman” films, I recommend you give the director another shot and watch “Falling Down”. Not enough people talk about this film and it’s a shame. It’s like a cross between “Do The Right Thing” and “Taxi Driver” so I do not get why there is not more love for it.