Falling Down

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Falling Down (disambiguation).

Falling Down
A poster depicting an older man standing on a concrete platform, wearing a business outfit, holding a briefcase and a shotgun. Above, in black letters, it reads: "Michael Douglas". Below, in large white letters over a red background, it reads: "Falling Down". Beneath that, with the film credits, it reads in small white letters: "A Joel Schumacher Film". In the background are skyscrapers and a smog filled sky.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoel Schumacher
Written byEbbe Roe Smith
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAndrzej Bartkowiak
Edited byPaul Hirsch
Music byJames Newton Howard
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • February 26, 1993 (1993-02-26)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[1]
Box office$96 million[2]

Falling Down is a 1993 American psychological thriller film[3][4] directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Ebbe Roe Smith and released by Warner Bros. in the United States on February 26, 1993.[5]

The film stars Michael Douglas as William Foster, a divorced and unemployed former defense engineer. It centers on Foster's trek across the city of Los Angeles as he attempts to reach the house of his estranged ex-wife in time for his daughter's birthday. Along the way, a series of encounters, both trivial and provocative, cause him to react with increasing violence and to make sardonic observations on life, poverty, the economy, and commercialism.

The film received generally positive reviews. It grossed $96 million against a $25 million budget, taking the top spot at the United States box office in its first two weeks of release.

  1. ^ "Falling Down (1993)". IMDb. May 25, 1993. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  2. ^ Klady, Leonard (January 3, 1994). "Int'l top 100 earn $8 bil". Variety. p. 1.
  3. ^ "10 Most Underrated Psychological Thrillers of the '90s, Ranked". Collider. July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023. Few actors dominated the thriller genre in the '90s more than Oscar-winning icon Michael Douglas. The acclaimed performer stars in Joel Schumacher's 1993 psychological thriller Falling Down, about a frustrated and angry man who experiences a violent and chaotic day as he crosses Los Angeles to get to his daughter's birthday party.
  4. ^ "Screening Room: Joel Schumacher fest at the Egyptian; the Getty's 'Ornament and Enchantress' series". Los Angeles Times. June 24, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2010. On Friday evening, Schumacher will introduce his 1993 psychological thriller, Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas as man who goes on a killing spree after he loses his job.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).