Fight Club Movie Review

Fight Club (1999)

Rent Fight Club on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the novel
Written by: Chuck Palahniuk (novel), Jim Uhls (screenplay)
Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Holt McCallany, Jared Leto
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.

Verdict
Fight Club is a trip, an enigmatic and engrossing trip. You're going to want to watch it at least a second time if not more because this movie embeds a lot of surprises you don't notice in the first watch. It's a Gen X exploration of life, an explicit rebellion against the American dream, status quo, culture, and consumerism. It's an anthem for the working class that didn't achieve the American dream. Tyler Durden provides an alternative to the corporate America dream, except Tyler Durden is a lunatic. Many people wanted what Durden was providing, a feeling of acceptance, reassurance that life has meaning and purpose. What he provided was a fictional narrative. Beyond my take for this movie, it's a creative story with twists that are so perfectly planned they delight even when you know them. Few movies manage to be so dense and do everything so well. All that, and this movie has one of the best final scene and music pairings.
Watch it.

Review
This movie completely enthralled me when I first saw it years ago. From the duality of the character to the Generation X desire for something more than consumerism as a mesure of success. There's a lot to experience even the second time around, from split second images of Tyler Durden to the protagonists dialog after you know the ending.

Edward Norton plays the unnamed protagonist.

A doctor directs an unnamed protagonist (Edward Norton) with insomnia to a support group to see real suffering. After seeing raw emotion the protagonist has the best sleep of his life. He attends various support groups for sleep even though he doesn't have the illnesses. He's cynical, detached, and addicted to consumerism. That's what he's been told is success; the power to buy stuff to fill your apartment. He's looking for something to fill the void as stuff doesn't do it. These support groups fill that need of connection, of having someone that cares. Newcomer Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) ruins the feeling for him. Marla even shows up at his testicular cancer group. The protagonist confronts her for being a tourist, yet that's what he is too. She is a reminder of his lie, and that ruins the experience and benefit.

Ed Norton and Helena Bonham Carter play the protagonist and Marla.

This movie is such a creative idea.  Chuck Palahniuk's books combine ideas and themes in interesting, and often disturbing, ways. How far will people go for meaning, what lies will they believe, and how likely is the average person to succumb to Tyler Durden's philosophy?

His consumerist life, a means of fitting in to society's expectations, repulses the protagonist once he meets Tyler Durden. Tyler has no intention of fitting in or conforming to society's rules. Together they start fight club, a counterculture means to relieve stress.

I've watched this a few times, though this is the first time in many years. Surprisingly, much of the protagonist's dialog points towards the conclusion though you wouldn't realize on first watch. Multiple viewings provide a completely different read.

The protagonist couldn't sleep until he displayed emotion, becoming vulnerable. That's counter to the manly stereotype. Then he joins fight club, a macho interpretation of the man stereotype. It's a criticism of the stereotype of being a man and being tough. It's also a take that modern men aren't tough. The catch here is that the leads are crazy. You can't take their word as they are misguided and deranged. That's part of the joke in the book and movie. People think Tyler Durden is cool, spouting counter culture ideology, but the protagonist was happiest when he made himself emotionally vulnerable.

Brad Pitt and Edward Norton play Tyler Durden and the protagonist.

The protagonist was living what he thought was the American expectation. Tyler opens his eyes, changing him. No longer does he strive to fit in. The protagonist becomes more like Tyler, but this relationship is completely one sided. Tyler consistently takes things farther than the protagonist ever would, and frequently the narrator gives in.

This movie is a Generation X anthem, a counter to the desire for status, a nice car, a big bank account, and the confirmation of society. Forget that, that's more to life than fitting in and faking it. It's a rebuke of consumerism, questioning what is life's purpose. Fight Club offered a sense of purpose and a method of control. In the ring middle class blue collar workers are in complete control of their lives. That's the sentiment with which people connect. A sense of power and control topples the faceless bureaucracy that complicates life. What people fail to see is that the perpetrator of these ideas is a madman. Tyler Durden talks about illusions and placating the masses. His method of control was an illusion. Durden exerted control by creating a cult and coercing people to commit crimes. The protagonist was along for the ride. The control and purpose was real but misguided.

I believe this has the greatest final song during the last scene of any movie I've seen. Part of what gives it such impact is everything that precedes it. This movie is a wild ride as we discover how deep the protagonist and Tyler's relationship extends.