October 17, 2009
*Notices people run off as they see the name of the director* Oi, come back! Yes, I know who directed it, doesn't mean you should run! *Drags those people back* Right, let's get one thing straight: yes I am very well aware he helped usher in the fall of the Batman from the films....( read more) He will either pay or atone for those sins eventually. Doesn't mean everything he's involved with is a black hole. It works in reverse too (Coppola, for directing The Godfather trilogy, we won't throw rocks at you for Jack. But that did suck. A lot).
Besides, this was done before Batman Forever, which is the better of his two attempts with Batman. So, let's give it a chance. I gave it a chance because I felt that the character was perhaps a future version of myself at the time I first saw this (at this point in my life, though, I am less likely to become the lead character so fear not).
The premise of the movie is a simple one: William Foster (Michael Douglas, whose performance I will delve deeper into later) is in traffic one day, doing the daily grind. He's having problems in his life and he's almost near breaking point. He's stuck and decides "Screw this, I've had enough", gets out of his car and heads home to his daughter's birthday party. Along the way, his mood alters and he just breaks down and descends further and further into frustration. Meanwhile, Sgt. Martin Prendergast (Robert DuVall, giving an impressive performance) is one day from retiring from the force (this might be one of the few times I'll overlook that cliche though I wonder what would happen if a group of fictional former flatfeet found a way to get together and swap stories. Those who were one day from retirement would be surprised at just how many other people had the craziest last day, just like they did. I imagine it would soon turn into a game of one-upping each other:
"So, it's my last day on the force, right? 25 years without only a few oddballs but overall, fairly quiet, but on that last day, some nutjob threatens to blow up a school AND a hospital AND a bus full of nuns unless we figure out his riddle! We had a hard day then, that was for darn sure!"
"Oh yeah? I can top that! Last day on the force for me, I got the weirdest sonofabitch yet: he comes into the precinct, he's got C4 up the wazoo, he demands that WE free Tibet! Turns out it's a scam to get his buddies to break out of jail on the other side of town but man, he was one messed up dude!"
"Y'know guys, I get the feeling the criminal masterminds and lunatics do this shit on purpose. They wait until one of us retires and then pull off some random stunt."
But I digress.)
Anyway, Martin keeps getting reports about seemingly random events occurring in the area and takes personal interest in the matters.
The key to making this film as dynamic as it plays is this: it does not overblow any of the events. It's not like an action movie where everything seems to blow up, regardless of whether or not that's even possible (Michael Bay's trademark) and it doesn't make everything out to seem epic or to beat what's come before it. It's unrelenting, horrifying to an extent, and plays out like something the average person would do in that situation. Of course, that would probably be the whole point but it makes its point so effective. And it helps that Foster doesn't go on a random killing spree as such. He gets angry about the same things we do, he doesn't play "Eeeny, Meeny, Minee, Moe" and pick off targets like he's at a shooting gallery at the county fair. Michael Douglas really helps bring out his pain, his anguish, his disillusionment with the way life is. He's mad as Hell and he's sure not going to take it anymore!
To further illustrate how it's not just a random potshot at bystanders he's interested in, look at his interactions with the owner of the military surplus store (played by Frederic Forrest). Said owner has Nazi paraphernalia and that disgusts Foster. He hasn't completely gone off the deep end, he's just tired. Confused and tired. He wants answers and he wants them now. I believe Foster is the personification of the anger we all feel towards the small things in life (like people talking on cell phones in cinemas) and the large (like being denied the rights to see our loved ones when we've done no wrong). He is the logical extension of our desire to wreak havoc on a chaotic world that holds no answers. Is it perhaps because violence was the answer with cave people and we're going with the first discoveries we made? Or is it because violence itself is unpredictable and thus, the only true counter to chaos is more chaos?
A fairly realistic, thought-provoking look at the man beyond the breaking point. Schumacher may not have done so well with the Batman franchise but don't count him out. He may surprise you.
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