Falling Down (1993)

The premise of this movie daunted me by sounding gritty. That said, director Joel Schumacher isn't known for grit. If anything, people wish he were more serious. In spite of his low popularity, I generally like what I've seen of his work, not least for his ability to fill the screen. If this was off the beaten path for him, so much the better for broadening my perception.

Bill (Michael Douglas) starts in a familiar scenario: an L.A. traffic jam. His first act to make him stand out is to leave his car, telling the objector behind him that he's walking "home." Lest you think this a retelling of After Hours, know that it's actually his former home, where ex Beth (Barbara Hershey) doesn't welcome him at all, but he'd hate to miss their young daughter Adele's birthday. As the plot progresses, we see more and more signs of why Beth got a restraining order: Bill becomes a formidable enemy to pretty much everyone he meets along the way.

The Stunt Man (1980)

Cult classic time! I had never heard of director Richard Rush (appropriate surname on an action flick) or any of his other works. Nor had I heard of star Steve Railsback (incredible surname). Some of his other roles are as real-life serial killers, so it figures he'd be cast as a fugitive, albeit not as bad as the police make him out to be.

The fugitive, Cameron, accidentally runs onto a movie set, has a misunderstanding with a stunt man, and evidently sends him to his death in self-defense. The intrigued director, Eli Cross (a middle-aged Peter O'Toole), decides to shoo off the police by claiming that Cameron is that same stunt man and treating him as such, more or less, thereafter. Just about everyone on the set knows he's a fugitive, but none of them squeal or even give him much grief for it. He merely comes to understand how precarious his situation is, which doesn't stop him from getting a little unruly. Or developing a relationship with main actress Nina (Barbara Hershey).