"Fight Club" Review

"Fight Club"

Directed by David Fincher
Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Jared Leto, Meat Loaf

RATING
10/10

Brace yourself, because I'm about to break the first and second rules of "Fight Club". I bet that opening line has been used a lot in the past by other reviewers, but I figure it's worth the repetitiveness because there really isn't any other way to start a "Fight Club" review. I'm so unoriginal. Anyway, let's get right into it.

"Fight Club" is the story of an unnamed narrator who has a serious case of insomnia. He hasn't been able to sleep in months, so he seeks refuge in the comfort of support groups with mostly fatal health illnesses, pretending to be a part of their community. Then, while at a testicular cancer session, he meets a woman named Marla Singer, and his life takes a turn for the weird. Shortly after his apartment is set ablaze, he takes shelter with the eccentric freeloader, Tyler Durden, in an abandoned mansion, and soon forms a fight club with him to help vent male aggression. But not all is what it seems below the surface.

"Fight Club" is every bit a cult classic as the great masterpieces of the past century. It delivered a jarring perspective on the meaning of life, corporate expansion and the pursuit of the dollar, and anarchy, all in its most bare and foul. Director David Fincher is the star of this film, giving us something more than just a bunch of shirtless men beating each other to a pulp (though you do get plenty of that too). This film has so many intricate layers, it's hard to just classify it as a simple action film. It was written and directed with the intention of pulling the wool over your eyes, and more. The morality of society is crumbling, and the hierachy of law and order is fixed. "Fight Club" pretty much pulls a middle finger at that while throwing flaming grenades too. There's truth and reasoning behind every lie, and the lie of life is that people are promised to become something important in their lives; a technique the media pushes forward to evoke more slave labour out of the blindly ambitious and hopeful. It's a controlled system, and it's not long before Tyler Durden and his posse of fighters begin to *ahem* introduce a little anarchy. This is the point where the film transcends it's labelled genre and becomes something more hostile, but damn exciting and thrilling to watch at the same time.

 

The cast is simply fantastic in this film, and all fit extremely well into the skin of these crazy characters. Brad Pitt as the clubs leader, Tyler Durden, walks a thin line between free-spirited and absolutely psychotic, and nails his performance. Also joining him is Edward Norton as the enigmatic narrator, who acts as both the audiences eyes and ears. Boy, what a spin they're in for in the last fifteen minutes. It's what all legendary pictures are made of: a slap to the face, in a very good way. And "Fight Club" packs an incredible punch. There's also a recognisable supporting cast, from Helena Bonham Carter as the slightly slutty but also bark-raving mad Marla Singer, to Jared Leto who's face pretty much looks like malva pudding for half the film. All these performances mesh so well together, and create a terrific cast. But it never strays from Tyler and the narrator as the big figures in the plot. David Fincher also does miracle work to the film. His direction is executed with killer style and panache, just as you'd expect from a veteran of the dark and insanely gritty neo-noir movement (go see "Se7en" if you haven't!). It's all very crisp, very smooth-edged, and very timeless craftsmanship.

 

"Fight Club" is a masterpiece, transcending and challenging it's audiences with every twist and turn up until a very big revelation and one of the most legendary climaxes ever put to film. The cast is superb, the directing is immaculate, and the script is a head-scratcher that will make you reconsider what exactly is going on in the world today. If a film has the visceral and intellectual power to that, and still get away with a title like "Fight Club", you know you're in for something special.