Max Holland: The Fall (2006) Movie Review

The Fall (2006) is an independent drama film with a fantasy/adventure twist. It's directed and co-written by Tarsem Singh (credited as "Tarsem"). It stars Lee Pace and Justine Waddell in major roles. Interestingly, this movie was filmed over a 4-year period in 22 different countries. It first premiered in festivals in 2006 and had a limited theatrical release in 2008. It got mixed reviews from critics upon initial release but has found an audience over time and is considered a cult classic. The movie hasn't been released on digital or streaming for quite some time and the DVD and Blu-ray have even gone out of print, making it a rare film. It has however been picked up by the small streaming site MUBI, in which it's found a new home. I stumbled upon this movie when I was 18 years old back in 2011, and I was immediately fascinated with it.

The film is set in Los Angeles in the 1920's. The plot follows Roy Walker (Lee Pace), a stuntman who fell and broke his legs during the making of a film and is left paralyzed. His girlfriend then left him for Sinclair, the actor whom he provided the stunts for. Roy is then hospitalized and has given up on life and is even having thoughts of suicide. Meanwhile, Alexandria, a 5-year-old Romanian girl with a broken arm, tries to deliver a note to Nurse Evelyn, a nurse at the hospital whom she's become very good friends with. The note, however, landed on Roy's lap. Alexandria notices this and that's when the two interact for the first time.

Alexandria and her mother were immigrants who traveled to America following an attack by vandals in which her father was killed in the process. She fell while picking oranges and broke her arm doing so. Roy and Alexandria' injuries were both results of a fall, leading the two to become friends and form a dynamic. Roy tells Alexandria a story in the form of an epic fairy tale centered on a group of bandits who swear revenge on an evil Spanish governor. Alexandria visualizes the story and imagines her friends (including Roy and Nurse Evelyn) as the characters.

Unbeknownst to Alexandria, Roy is using this story to manipulate her to get him a bottle of morphine pills to attempt suicide, while lying that they're sleeping pills. However, Roy becomes more affectionate towards Alexandria over time. Alexandria, throughout the course of the film, even slowly puts together that Roy is on a suicide mission and shows a bit of concern for him. Also, the events in the fairy tale parallel what happens in the real world. Another accident occurs while Alexandria is fetching the morphine pills, and that's when Roy eventually spills the beans. You won't want to know about it here, but the fairy tale takes a dark turn, and Alexandria helps Roy realize that life is precious, and he rethinks the whole suicide thing. That's about the gist of it really.

The characters in Roy's stories are for the most part based on real people. There's Charle's Darwin, the naturalist and his monkey friend Wallace, based on Darwin's real life partner Wallace. There's Otta Benga based on a real-life ex-slave. Earlier on, he tells Alexandria a story of Alexander the Great. There are probably some other historical references I may have missed. That was a nice little touch.

The Fall (2006) is an excellent and very well done film. It’s like a dark R-rated fairy tale for adults. It’s insanely creative and unique, as well as thought provoking, and features a solid storyline and likable characters. It’s got great visuals, a neat art style and some emotional moments as well as a few funny moments. I’d go as far as to call this an underrated cinematic masterpiece.

It has great performances by Lee Pace and Justine Waddell and even the little girl Cantica Untaru, who played Alexandria. I can't name a single problem with the movie. Though if I had to change one thing, it would be the side characters. Many of the supporting characters were pretty underdeveloped. Particularly that of the character Walt. Walt is kind of an antagonist who sabotages the main characters, but hardly anything is known about him. Supposedly, he claims to be sick even though he's not and throughout the movie he's trying to get attention. He even goes so far as to stealing Roy's medication. Other than that, though, he's really not that involved in the plot. It's not even known what became of him in the end. I felt they could've done a little more with this character.

I think Tarsem did a great job directing, and of all his films, I'd say this is the closest to a solid movie and just might be his magnum opus. The Fall (2006) stands as one of my favorite movies of all time, and I see why it has a cult following. It currently has a 63% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but I would've rated it much higher than that. I can't say the same about his other directorial films. I enjoyed The Cell (2000) okay. I enjoyed Immortals (2011) when I saw it, but it's been years, so I don't know if it holds up. Mirror Mirror (2012) was "eh". I kind of liked Self/Less (2015). I don't think any of those movies came close to The Fall (2006), so I guess you can say Tarsem is a "one-hit wonder"

I give The Fall (2006) a solid 10/10.

So, have you seen The Fall (2006)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube: