Classic dissected - Falling Down

Classic Trivia

• Fittingly for an LA-set film about injustice, social inequality and spontaneous violence, during its filming three white LAPD officers, charged with using excessive force in the arrest of black Rodney King, were acquitted (despite having been filmed beating the shit out of King). In the subsequent riots, 53 people were killed.

• Scriptwriter Ebbe Roe Smith appears at the start of the film as the man who helps Prendergast and the motorcycle cop shove Foster’s car off the road.

• The opening sequence in which Bill slowly loses it in his car is a homage to the dream sequence from Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. This features a man stranded in traffic who, when no one hears his screams, simply floats off into the sky.

• The bemused waitress in Whammyburger who refuses to serve breakfast is Michelle Pfeiffer’s little sister.