A year ago or so I tried doing something like this on my own, but forces collided and nothing came of it, except this single review of "Fight Club." In honor of John's "Zodiac" review, I'll put it up here as well. Fincher is definitely in the uppermost echelons of directors and deserving of a little retrospective.
Fight Club ... what to say that hasn't been said. But it's a great one, definitely top ten,. so a good starting place.
For those uninitiated to the film (AKA a synopsis):
A movie based on a book by Chuck Palahniuk (read the book and see the movie ... important, just like A Clockwork Orange).
Your humble narrator lives a life not unlike many of ours, until, like so many of us, his life is upended by a woman who disrupts his happy little release -- in his case, support groups for processes he doesn't have (nor does she). From there, enter his new best friend -- Tyler Durden. And what better to do with your new best friend and to get in touch with one's own self-sense --
Fight.
And it goes from there, elucidating the needs of our generation's boys, guys, and men, and how what we need, what we think we need, and what we can have are very different things.
OK, you want to know more about the plot, go to imbd.com. From me, no spoilers.
What to really get from it:
This is a film about our generation of men/guys/boys, after a fashion. To many in our years, the world doesn't hold the bright, sunny future that it did for our fathers and grandfathers, nor do we have the audacity to not only expect but demand what is our birthright, like Gen Y so skillfully does. As a result, we may feel trapped, without a way out.
Unless you meet Tyler Durden.
This is why this film didn't do well in the theaters -- it's a view that can't be accepted, for to accept means to want anarchy, which we all realize is silly.
But it's also the reason why it's such a cult hit, and, more importantly, it's why it should stand as one of the hallmark films for our generation of males. It stands as the lighthouse -- both showing to us what many of us feel about our current state of affairs, but also as a warning to us of what may come if we don't redirect ourselves.
Of particular importance here is the difference between the movie and the book. The book turns one way at the end, while the movie the other. To you, take your pick.
Bonus info: the critiques
Direction:
David Fincher's 4th film (not counting his background in music videos) continues on the promise manifest in its predecessors, namely, The Game, Se7en, and Alien3 (yes, even promise shown in that middle child of the Alien series ... but more on that elsewhere). Fincher is a natural descendent (not an heir, but maybe a great nephew of sorts) of Hitchcock, with his very sharp use of sleight of hand, foreshadowing, and suspense to keep you guessing until the end. His ability to translate this very adept work to film is certainly made easy by the script by Uhls (which does the smart thing --- copy the book at times word for word), but his balance between the stable and controlled method of Ed Norton (Jack/the narrator) and the spontaneous and even anarchaic style of Pitt (Tyler) is perfect, like a Chinese acrobat carrying his two co-stars across a tightrope on each end of a balance pole. His approach to Marla (Helena Bonham Carter in a role that may well be how a whole generation sees her) is coyly sympathetic as well, even if it takes a few viewings to get Jack's statement that we get to the opening scene because of her --- not as it is her fault, but more properly as it is his caring for her that gets them there. He's a gifted filmmaker, always worth a viewing.
The Actors:
Ed Norton: One of the underrated actors of our age, skillful in roles as extreme as NeoNazi skinhead to, here, pencil pusher. He's our guide to this insanity, through whom we can understand the natural progression of a man from happy little Ikea patron to anarchist-in-chief.
Brad Pitt: Finally making good on the skill hinted at in 12 Monkeys, he takes a spectacular turn as the narrator's liberator, the man who is able to do what so many of us just dream about. Even if he makes Meet Joe Black 2, his reputation will survive because of roles like this one (though, Mr. Pitt, you really should know better).
Helena Bonham Carter: What can you say, she's a perfect fit for this role, someone as biting as venom but for whom you really do want to care. It is interesting, if you actually listen to the commentary on the DVD, Fincher, Norton, and Pitt do their contributions in one room, and Carter does hers separately. Telling, no?
Look for special turns by Meat Loaf and Jared Leto (interesting how their careers have mirrored each other now).
Definitely a fantastic film, though not for everyone unfortunately.
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