Review: Fight Club (1999)

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Fight Club

Rating

Director

David Fincher

Screenplay

Jim Uhls (Novel: Chuck Palahniuk)

Length

2h 19m

Starring

Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Meat Loaf Aday, Helena Bonham Carter

MPAA Rating

Review

Is it possible to free your body and mind through violence? Most politicians would be abhorrent to the idea and would probably try to pass a law against it. But the first rule of “Fight Club” is don’t talk about “Fight Club.” The second rule of “Fight Club” is don’t talk about “Fight Club.”

These two rules apply more to the surprise ending to the film, than to the film itself. David Fincher, whose previous work on “Seven” left Americans craving more, returns to the big screen. Like “Seven,” “Fight Club is a fast-paced, well-edited and visually horrifying motion picture about the ills of society.

Edward Norton plays Jack, a white-collar insomniac with limited motivation. He finds a cure for his insomnia by visiting various support groups. His first group is for men with testicular cancer. When the men are asked to pair up and share their sorrows, Jack meets Bob (Meat Loaf), who has been forced to take hormone therapy.

He joins group after group and finds better rest with each until one night he sees someone new: Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter). She attends ALL of his groups, including testicular cancer. When she moves in, he no longer finds sleep. After arguing with her, they arrange to take the groups on different nights.

Then he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). Tyler changes Jack’s life and not necessarily for the better. After Jack’s apartment is blown up and he has nowhere to turn (other than to Marla), he calls up Tyler and they go out drinking. In the parking lot afterwards, they decide to beat each other up. They share a beer and an experience. Tyler takes him home to a run down house in a lifeless part of town and become great friends, every night fighting outside the same bar.

Once they draw an audience, Jack and Tyler realize this is a good thing and arrange a secret meeting below the bar for the group to fight their frustrations. The club is a success, but there are rules. No shoes, no shirts and the first two and most important, “don’t talk about fight club.” The news spreads anyway and there’s a sensation.

Eventually the groups move from just beating each other up to threatening “the man” and committing acts of anarchist terrorism. Everything they do, however, surrounds their dissatisfaction for the way society treats itself and how insecure and lonely everyone feels in a free, yet oppressive society.

“Fight Club” is visually astounding. The editing is absolutely terrific and the photography is beautifully violent. There are moments when you cringe at what you see. Some adults won’t like the violent content and most children shouldn’t see it.

Norton is very good in his role, but sometimes feels a bit TOO timid. Pitt, on the other hand, is quite impressive. He embodies his character perfectly: careless, violent and pensive. Meat Loaf is also a treat; his role is surprisingly funny and touching. Bonham Carter also delivers a good performance; she has broken away from her independent career and done a delightfully mainstream film.

What “Fight Club” does say is that we, as a society, are oppressed by our employers, our government and to an extent our relationships. We live to serve one another, instead of ourselves and unless we break free from that oppression we are doomed to live our lives in hollow vessels devoid of emotion and energy.

“Fight Club” carries with it a lot of violent baggage, but the images and messages are so pervasive that we cannot help but be awed by its loud, obnoxious ideologies.

Awards Prospects

If the film weren’t so overtly violent, it might be a major contender. The problem is Fincher suffers the same fate with each of his movies. “Seven” is most notorious because despite some great editing, it was completely ignored. A similar fate could befall “Fight Club.” The editing is terrific, though and if anything, it will be the sole nomination, but Norton, Pitt, Meat Loaf and Bonham Carter should not be completely counted out.