Michael Douglas is incredible in this very memorable film. That is all that really needs to be said
The question is: have you ever had a bad day where you feel as though you could flip out on everyone around you? Well William Foster (Michael Douglas) had one of those days and it lead to a whole lot of stuff that I would imagine that he would have preferred it not lead to. I'm quite certain that he didn't want to hold up a fast food restaurant, but he did.
"Falling Down" is a fantastic movie about a normal guy who faced "normal guy stuff" until he reaches his breaking point and well, the world has to pay a price once he reaches that He's don't all the right things in that he has paid his dues, he turns up to work on time and doesn't break traffic laws etc. Until one day he is forced by situations outside his control to break all of these rules and i honestly feel as thought jut about anyone can relate.
William Foster is not a bad guy and this film is not an accurate presentation of real life anyway. It is more a combination of all the imaginable bad things that could possibly happen in a person's day that would convince them that what he decides to do, is a good idea. He doesn't want to be a gangster, he doesn't want to be a felon, he doesn't want to be "the bad guy," but this is precisely what he ends up being on a day of profoundly bad luck.
I think that everyone that has ever had a job and has ever been subjected to the horse-crap that is government and annoyances of everyday life can relate to how we have all felt like would could snap one day. Michael Douglas plays this person perfectly.