‘Falling Down’

Caught in the Mother of All Traffic Jams on the hottest day of the year in Los Angeles, Michael Douglas (pictured), with a scowl surgically planted on his face, heads west toward the ocean. On a Cook’s tour of urban decay, he’s passive no more. He is Everyman-turned-Terminator, wreaking vengeance for the slights of a lifetime on anyone who gets in his way. As written by Ebbe Roe Smith and directed by Joel Schumacher, this 1993 release is eager to have it both ways by calling attention to pressing urban problems while pandering to a mass audience. But it is entertaining. (Cinemax Monday at 9:45 p.m.)