Fight Club

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining & Enlightening
Review: Fight Club" an aggressive, confrontational, often brutal satire that is quite possibly a brilliant masterpiece. Taking the "Choose life," anti-consumerism rant at the beginning of "Trainspotting," and carrying it to its logical -- albeit extreme -- conclusion this is a big budget, mainstream film that takes a lot of risks by biting the hand that feeds it. The film's narrator (Edward Norton) is an insignificant cog in the drab, corporate machine, dutifully doing his job and what he's told without question. He's an insomniac slave to his IKEA possessions and only finds joy in going to as many self-help/dealing with terminal diseases sessions as he can. It provides him with an escape from his sleepless nights. That is, until Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), a trashy chain-smoking poser, enters his life and upsets his routine. The narrator also meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a charismatic soap salesman whose straightforward honesty, candor and sleazy lounge-lizard outfits are a breath of fresh air. One night, after the two men have bonded over beers, Tyler asks the narrator to hit him. At first, it seems like an absurd request but after they pound on each other for a bit, a strange feeling overcomes them. They feel a kind of release and satisfaction at inflicting pain on one another. In a world where people are desensitized to everything around them, the physical contact of fighting wakes them up and makes them feel truly alive. Others soon join in and pretty soon Fight Club becomes an underground sensation. However, it becomes readily apparent that Tyler has more elaborate plans than just organizing brawls at the local bar. David Fincher has taken the dark, pessimistic worldview of "Seven" and married it with the clever plot twists and turns of "The Game" and assembled his strongest effort to date. "Fight Club" is a $50+ million studio film that remains true to its anti-consumer, anti-society, anti-everything message -- right up to the last, sneaky subliminal frame. What makes "Fight Club" a subversive delight is not only its refreshing anti-corporate message but how it delivers said message. As Fincher has explained in interviews, you don't really watch the film but rather download it. Its structure is extremely playful as it messes around with linear time to an incredible degree. The narrative bounces back and forth all over the place like a novel, or surfing on the Internet -- even making a hilarious dead stop to draw attention to itself in a funny, interesting way that completely works. Yet Norton's deadpanned narration holds everything together and allows the viewer to get a handle on what's happening. This is the way films should be made. Why must we always have to go through the A+B+C formula? "Fight Club" openly rejects this tired, clearly outdated structure in favour of a stylized frenzy of jump cuts, freeze frames, slow motion and every other film technique in the book that only reinforces its anarchistic message. A film like this would have never been greenlighted by a major studio if Brad Pitt had not been attached to the project. Once you see the film, it becomes obvious that he was the only choice for Tyler Durden. Like he did with "Kalifornia" and "Twelve Monkeys", Pitt grunges himself down and disappears completely into his role to a frighteningly convincing degree. During many of the brutal fight scenes, he is transformed into a bloody, pulpy mess that'll surely have the "Legends of the Fall" fans running for the exits. It is an incredible performance -- probably his best -- for the simple fact that he becomes the character so completely. If Pitt has the flashy, gonzo role, Edward Norton is his perfect foil as the seemingly meek yet sardonic narrator. It's a deceptively understated performance as the last third of the film reveals but Norton nails it perfectly. He is clearly our surrogate, our introduction into this strange world and his wry observations on our consumer-obsessed culture are right on the money. They are the perfect setup for Tyler's introduction and his view on the world which is clearly a call to arms of sorts, a manifesto that rejects the notion that we are what we own. And ultimately, that is what "Fight Club" tries to do. The film is a cinematic punch to the head as it challenges the status quo and offers a wakeup call to people immersed in a materialistic world where those who have the most stuff, "win." I think that Fincher's film wants us to tear all that down, reject corporate monsters like Starbucks and Blockbuster, and try to figure out what we really want out of life. It's almost as if the film is suggesting salvation through self-destruction. And it is these thought-provoking ideas that makes "Fight Club" a dangerously brilliant film that entertains as well as enlightens.

Rating:
Summary: I saw this film with one thing in mind:
Review: This has got to be my favorite movie ever made. It's sounds extremely cliche; a man's praise for a superficially masculine, testosterone-drenched, wham-bam-thank you ma'am pile of celluloid. Not at all true. This film made me think, and no movie fitting the preceding description has ever accomplished that. This film also shocked me with frank but intelligant philosophy, stunning performances credited to Helena Bonham Carter and Edward Norton, and original-ironically trendy-premise and execution. The sensationalism, assumed to be horribly adolescent, is so effective, the audience is left gathering itself and arriving to the conclusion that while it may have its share of violence, slapstick, shockers, and bizarre mannerisms, there was a lot to think about in all that. You can thank this film for the strangest slice of a reality gone reanimated, as a nameless Joe Average plunges into a tale of mischeif, mayhem, and soap. Edward Norton is the timid white-collar consumer, a simple materialist with an addiction to stuff he doesn't need but buys to fill holes in his pathetic, numbing existence, like anyone else would. Stricken with the boredom of office jargon and despondency, while suffering heavy insomnia, Norton finds an obscure comfort, and pitiful just as well, touring support groups for diseases and what not, releasing tears and his sleeping restraints. while this is all well and good, his encounter with the vivaciously-dead Helena Bonham Carter lands him back in square one, resolving to his new (single-serving) friend: Tyler Durden. Enigmatic, rebellious, confident, vulgar, unconventional, and smart, Tyler (Brad Pitt) leads his pal into a foreign world of obscure humor, the dangers of soap-making, the philosophy of chaos and anti-sociality, theraputic violence, and taking action against the ideals of the material world that chains us all. Unfortunantly, Tyler expands his quest to unchaining more and more people, until massive and ludicrous terrorism throws Norton into a plot that threatens society entirely, and places Norton on the other side of the world we all take for granted. Collectively, this film was amazingly written, directed, acted, filmed, and produced to create one of the most misunderstood and underrated films of the decade. See this film for everything it can offer you-which I garuntee heartily is a lot. kyle@porterworks

Rating:
Summary: A must see
Review: I went to this movie only because my G.F wanted to see Brad pitt, and although I knew I liked his acting I was completely blown away by both the script, the acting and the directing. For the ones out there who don't know that much about a movie let me say this. It's the kind of movie that really makes you think and better yet, it's a movie that you can watch over and over again. I'd also like to point out that Ed Norton was amazing!

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking, more proof to ignore the "critics"
Review: Fight Club is a thought provoking and magnificient work. "Self-improvement is masturbation; self-destruction might be the answer." - Seems odd but also maybe true? Yes. Fight Club releases and is what we all desire to be: free. There is really no way to describe it without spoling it, but what ever you go in expecting, you will not get it.

Rating:
Summary: Fighting and clubbing
Review: I liked the fighting and the club was fantastic! Fight plus club equals "Fight Club"!

Rating:
Summary: Fight Club is a rarity...style AND substance
Review: In the annals of movie history there are those films that slip through the cracks, that go unnoticed for whatever reasons that have conspired against them.

People, there must have been a vast conspiracy against Fight Club.

When they saw the movie together for the first time, Brad Pitt turned to Edward Norton and said, "I don't think I'll ever be in a movie as good as this." He's probably right.

Everything is as close to perfect as a movie can get. The direction is stylish, but not overbearing. The acting is perfect in tone and execution. The story moves at a fever pitch, adapting a fantastic book into a terrific movie. Needless to say, it was my favorite movie last year, an Anti-American Beauty. Here's the other side of the coin. The disenfranchised young adult male, striving to find an identity in a world so entangled in commerce and corporate culture that he can't help but want to punch somebody in the face. That drug pusher from American Beauty wouldn't have lasted two seconds in Fincher's dark underworld of sweat, blood and soap (don't ask about the soap, just watch the movie).

Give it a chance. It's MUCH better then the critics said. MUCH, MUCH better.

cheers...

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best films of '99
Review: Fight Club was discredited by many of the film industry pundits for being to surreal, and lacking a true plot structure. That's just plain ignorance of the traditional Hollywood reviewer. This film got mixed reviews simply because the plot structure and the themes were "too complex" for many to understand. And that's the point! This movie is one of those types of movies that has to be seen more than once to fully appreciate. So if you've already seen Fight Club, do yourself a favor and view it again. And if you haven't seen this film yet, do so! And view it more than once . . . I'm out

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, one of the best of 1999
Review: When I saw this movie at the theatres, I was absolutely riveted, and was shocked when I read the slams it got from the critics. This is one of the best films of last year, and it was hardly recognized.

Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter are amazing in their roles. They make the characters come to life. For me, this movie was a big slap in the face. How many of us are living lives like Jack/The Narrator, looking for fulfillment in our lives? I think that is the main reason why so many people disliked this movie--because it was real! Aren't we all looking for the dining set that defines us as a person? This movie is absolutely hilarious, and the dialogue is wonderful (most of it coming from the book, which I also recommend highly).

This movie shows what our society has become, and what we, as people, are becoming. To me, this was a much better depiction of the 'main character who realizes that his life isn't what he expected it to be and is looking for fulfillment' than American Beauty was. (It's the same theme! So why did so many people love Amerian Beauty so much?) I didn't think that this film was particularly violent, although the fight scenes are completely realistic.

Buy this movie...

Rating:
Summary: One of the best...in a LONG time...
Review: I was hesitant to see this film, to be honest I'm not much of a Brad Pitt fan. Also, I figured this would be typical Hollywood action fare. Boy was I wrong, Brad is amazing in this film and the story will keep you guessing as to what the hell is going on. It is too hard to say much on this film as it would spoil it if you have not seen it. An extremely well made psychological,action,drama,comedy,surreal film.

Rating:
Summary: Good fighting bad movie
Review: This movie is worth a pass. I say if you want a action movie with tons of blood in small amounts time by time then pick out this movie. I wanted to like this movie infact I wanted to love this movie but it is just not going to happen.