← Back to Reviews
in
FIGHT CLUB
(directed by David Fincher, 1999)
Fight Club is a movie about men running away from women -- or, to put it another way, it's about men running away from their sensitive sides. It is not really a story about consumerism. It's about a guy (played by Edward Norton) who is afraid to grow up and get married and live a normal, boring life. The woman he runs away from the most is Marla Singer (played by Helena Bonham Carter, before she became a slave to Tim Burton and Harry Potter.) She certainly looks like a Tim Burton creation in this film, but that's Helena Bonham Carter for you.
The movie begins with a guy - known as the Narrator - who keeps going to all of these support groups in town - ones that deal with illnesses. He becomes addicted to the brutal honesty - sensitivity - of everyone who is suffering at these places. He is able to let go and cry with them. This allows him to beat insomnia. However, he starts seeing Marla Singer at all of these support groups, and he realizes... she's faking. She doesn't have any of these illnesses, just as he doesn't, either. The charm of the support groups dies with Marla Singer and from there on, the Narrator's past time is ruined.
As fate would have it, he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a soap salesman who changes his life - dramatically. A simple curiosity on Tyler's part - he wants to get hit by another man as hard as possible - leads to Tyler and the Narrator forming "Fight Club" -- an underground men's club where men do nothing but fight each other. "Fight Club" grows and grows and grows until it becomes nothing but a major terrorist operation. Meanwhile, Marla Singer continues to drop by the headquarters -- a run down house that Tyler and the Narrator have been living in -- to have sex with Tyler.
There's a lot that goes on in this movie, which runs for 2 hours and 15 minutes. I have always loved this movie ever since I first saw it on a movie channel late one night in 2000 or 2001. But I'll let you in on a little secret -- at times, Fight Club has bored me. I have watched it many, many times -- but -- many, many times I have had difficulty with getting through the whole thing. The events of this film drag and drag and drag. However, as of my last viewing of Fight Club... I was able to get through the whole thing. Having it now on Blu-ray has helped, although, this is only the second time I've watched it on Blu-ray and the first time... I didn't finish it.
I totally believe that I just have my own personal reasons for why I couldn't get through the movie sometimes, but I also have my own personal reasons for loving it. Fight Club is extraordinary - a one of a kind event. One of the best movies ever made (from the small selection I've seen, of course.) It has a weird plot... I was going to say more, but I think that's it. It just has a weird plot. And it has Brad Pitt as the hottest motherf**ker I think I've ever seen in a movie. I never cared for Brad Pitt until I saw Fight Club and, honestly, although I love him, he hasn't been as great as this since. If he could always be Tyler Durden in real life, the world would be a better place.
The movie has breathtaking apocalyptic visuals, fabulous characters, a body morphing soundtrack, but most of all... Fight Club is a legend. It is immortal, it is unforgettable, it is the beginning of the universe brought to film.
I would say more, but I'm not really supposed to discuss Fight Club with anybody.
(directed by David Fincher, 1999)
Fight Club is a movie about men running away from women -- or, to put it another way, it's about men running away from their sensitive sides. It is not really a story about consumerism. It's about a guy (played by Edward Norton) who is afraid to grow up and get married and live a normal, boring life. The woman he runs away from the most is Marla Singer (played by Helena Bonham Carter, before she became a slave to Tim Burton and Harry Potter.) She certainly looks like a Tim Burton creation in this film, but that's Helena Bonham Carter for you.
The movie begins with a guy - known as the Narrator - who keeps going to all of these support groups in town - ones that deal with illnesses. He becomes addicted to the brutal honesty - sensitivity - of everyone who is suffering at these places. He is able to let go and cry with them. This allows him to beat insomnia. However, he starts seeing Marla Singer at all of these support groups, and he realizes... she's faking. She doesn't have any of these illnesses, just as he doesn't, either. The charm of the support groups dies with Marla Singer and from there on, the Narrator's past time is ruined.
As fate would have it, he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a soap salesman who changes his life - dramatically. A simple curiosity on Tyler's part - he wants to get hit by another man as hard as possible - leads to Tyler and the Narrator forming "Fight Club" -- an underground men's club where men do nothing but fight each other. "Fight Club" grows and grows and grows until it becomes nothing but a major terrorist operation. Meanwhile, Marla Singer continues to drop by the headquarters -- a run down house that Tyler and the Narrator have been living in -- to have sex with Tyler.
There's a lot that goes on in this movie, which runs for 2 hours and 15 minutes. I have always loved this movie ever since I first saw it on a movie channel late one night in 2000 or 2001. But I'll let you in on a little secret -- at times, Fight Club has bored me. I have watched it many, many times -- but -- many, many times I have had difficulty with getting through the whole thing. The events of this film drag and drag and drag. However, as of my last viewing of Fight Club... I was able to get through the whole thing. Having it now on Blu-ray has helped, although, this is only the second time I've watched it on Blu-ray and the first time... I didn't finish it.
I totally believe that I just have my own personal reasons for why I couldn't get through the movie sometimes, but I also have my own personal reasons for loving it. Fight Club is extraordinary - a one of a kind event. One of the best movies ever made (from the small selection I've seen, of course.) It has a weird plot... I was going to say more, but I think that's it. It just has a weird plot. And it has Brad Pitt as the hottest motherf**ker I think I've ever seen in a movie. I never cared for Brad Pitt until I saw Fight Club and, honestly, although I love him, he hasn't been as great as this since. If he could always be Tyler Durden in real life, the world would be a better place.
The movie has breathtaking apocalyptic visuals, fabulous characters, a body morphing soundtrack, but most of all... Fight Club is a legend. It is immortal, it is unforgettable, it is the beginning of the universe brought to film.
I would say more, but I'm not really supposed to discuss Fight Club with anybody.