Falling Down (1993) isn't a comedy?

[Psycho Circus]

No, it's just a bad movie.

Nein

[Jim H]

I'd call it a drama with a lot of dark comedy elements.

One thing I have to say is I'm not sure what the point of the movie is.  I think I'd have liked it better if D-Fens had been a mild-mannered, completely ordinary guy.  Not someone who is shown to be a ticking time bomb with obvious anger issues.  It might have had a little more to say if our, at times, incredibly frustrating society drove a NORMAL person over the edge.

[joejoeherron]

I never really thought of it as a comedy.It had some funny parts in it though. Makes me wonder what I'll do when I finally snap.

[Flick James]

I'd call it a drama with a lot of dark comedy elements.

One thing I have to say is I'm not sure what the point of the movie is.  I think I'd have liked it better if D-Fens had been a mild-mannered, completely ordinary guy.  Not someone who is shown to be a ticking time bomb with obvious anger issues.  It might have had a little more to say if our, at times, incredibly frustrating society drove a NORMAL person over the edge.

The point of the movie was clear, or at least I thought so. The message was that no matter how f***ed you think society is, you still don't have the right to administer your own brand of justice. This point is made clear at the end of the movie by Duvall's character. Whether you agree with that or not, or whether or not you like the film is a different matter, but that was the message.

[Jim H]

I'd call it a drama with a lot of dark comedy elements.

One thing I have to say is I'm not sure what the point of the movie is.  I think I'd have liked it better if D-Fens had been a mild-mannered, completely ordinary guy.  Not someone who is shown to be a ticking time bomb with obvious anger issues.  It might have had a little more to say if our, at times, incredibly frustrating society drove a NORMAL person over the edge.

The point of the movie was clear, or at least I thought so. The message was that no matter how f***ed you think society is, you still don't have the right to administer your own brand of justice. This point is made clear at the end of the movie by Duvall's character. Whether you agree with that or not, or whether or not you like the film is a different matter, but that was the message.

I got that was what the movie may have been after, I just found it muddled considering how sympathetic D-Fens is and how late in the game anything he does is actually portrayed as out-and-out wrong.  Duvall himself doesn't even really say anything about it til literally the last 5 minutes of the film.

On another note, anyone seen Bruiser?  Vaguely reminds me of this one. 

[Flick James]

I'd call it a drama with a lot of dark comedy elements.

One thing I have to say is I'm not sure what the point of the movie is.  I think I'd have liked it better if D-Fens had been a mild-mannered, completely ordinary guy.  Not someone who is shown to be a ticking time bomb with obvious anger issues.  It might have had a little more to say if our, at times, incredibly frustrating society drove a NORMAL person over the edge.

The point of the movie was clear, or at least I thought so. The message was that no matter how f***ed you think society is, you still don't have the right to administer your own brand of justice. This point is made clear at the end of the movie by Duvall's character. Whether you agree with that or not, or whether or not you like the film is a different matter, but that was the message.

I got that was what the movie may have been after, I just found it muddled considering how sympathetic D-Fens is and how late in the game anything he does is actually portrayed as out-and-out wrong.  Duvall himself doesn't even really say anything about it til literally the last 5 minutes of the film.

On another note, anyone seen Bruiser?  Vaguely reminds me of this one. 

Aha. Exactly why that is the message. The movie makes a lot of viewers vicariously appreciate D-Fens because they share his feelings about what he is lashing out against. Then they hit you with the moral of the story at the end, with what I believe is the intention of telling the viewer that you may share his frustrations, but it's still not okay. Very manipulative, actually. That's my take. That's not to say that I'm necessarily right.

[joejoeherron]

yeah, I saw Bruiser a few years ago. I thought it was a pretty good Romero movie,even without zombies

[Jim H]

I'd call it a drama with a lot of dark comedy elements.

One thing I have to say is I'm not sure what the point of the movie is.  I think I'd have liked it better if D-Fens had been a mild-mannered, completely ordinary guy.  Not someone who is shown to be a ticking time bomb with obvious anger issues.  It might have had a little more to say if our, at times, incredibly frustrating society drove a NORMAL person over the edge.

The point of the movie was clear, or at least I thought so. The message was that no matter how f***ed you think society is, you still don't have the right to administer your own brand of justice. This point is made clear at the end of the movie by Duvall's character. Whether you agree with that or not, or whether or not you like the film is a different matter, but that was the message.

I got that was what the movie may have been after, I just found it muddled considering how sympathetic D-Fens is and how late in the game anything he does is actually portrayed as out-and-out wrong.  Duvall himself doesn't even really say anything about it til literally the last 5 minutes of the film.

On another note, anyone seen Bruiser?  Vaguely reminds me of this one. 

Aha. Exactly why that is the message. The movie makes a lot of viewers vicariously appreciate D-Fens because they share his feelings about what he is lashing out against. Then they hit you with the moral of the story at the end, with what I believe is the intention of telling the viewer that you may share his frustrations, but it's still not okay. Very manipulative, actually. That's my take. That's not to say that I'm necessarily right.

Ya see, that's part of the reason I think it would have been better if D-Fens hadn't been portrayed as a ticking time bomb.  If he'd just been an ordinary citizen who really couldn't stand it anymore, and the audience sided with him, that type of moral would have worked a lot better.

[Flick James]

I'd call it a drama with a lot of dark comedy elements.

One thing I have to say is I'm not sure what the point of the movie is.  I think I'd have liked it better if D-Fens had been a mild-mannered, completely ordinary guy.  Not someone who is shown to be a ticking time bomb with obvious anger issues.  It might have had a little more to say if our, at times, incredibly frustrating society drove a NORMAL person over the edge.

The point of the movie was clear, or at least I thought so. The message was that no matter how f***ed you think society is, you still don't have the right to administer your own brand of justice. This point is made clear at the end of the movie by Duvall's character. Whether you agree with that or not, or whether or not you like the film is a different matter, but that was the message.

I got that was what the movie may have been after, I just found it muddled considering how sympathetic D-Fens is and how late in the game anything he does is actually portrayed as out-and-out wrong.  Duvall himself doesn't even really say anything about it til literally the last 5 minutes of the film.

On another note, anyone seen Bruiser?  Vaguely reminds me of this one. 

Aha. Exactly why that is the message. The movie makes a lot of viewers vicariously appreciate D-Fens because they share his feelings about what he is lashing out against. Then they hit you with the moral of the story at the end, with what I believe is the intention of telling the viewer that you may share his frustrations, but it's still not okay. Very manipulative, actually. That's my take. That's not to say that I'm necessarily right.

Ya see, that's part of the reason I think it would have been better if D-Fens hadn't been portrayed as a ticking time bomb.  If he'd just been an ordinary citizen who really couldn't stand it anymore, and the audience sided with him, that type of moral would have worked a lot better.

Oh, you may have a point. I'm just going with what I think the film was trying to say. As is, it has the message about vigilanteism, but also, because the central character is a ticking time bomb, carries the additional message that vigilantes tend to be unbalanced people. Again, that's may take on the film's message. Further, the viewer doesn't know that D-Fens is a ticking timebomb until that is developed. At the beginning, he simply appears to be a man who can't take it anymore.

Falling Down was not a great film. It was okay. I did enjoy it and it has some good elements. What makes it work or how the message of the film could have been better is going to, most of the time, come down to personal preferences and beliefs. We seem to differ on that, but only slightly from what I can see.

Ah well. Cheers.