Rated R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language.
139 Minutes
Directed By: David Fincher
Written By: Jim Uhls
Staring: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier, George Maguire, and Jared Leto
This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time. -Narrator
Review
Every once in awhile a movie happens that changes your perspective on not just film but even your life. Fight Club was one of those rare films. It simultaneously made you laugh, made you think, and maybe even repulses you in a strange way. There wasn’t a movie made like this before and hasn’t been since. Screaming out in angst the words of Chuck Palahniuk are realized in a new forum to contemplate this mind bending story of self awareness. This movie has grown a cult following over the years and when it was released it was very trendy to “like” it, but the sad thing about Fight Club is a lot of people “liked” it for all the wrong reasons, and because of this some of it’s profound impact has been lost in the last decade.
If there was a film to bring closure to the angst of the 90′s it was Fight Club. The frustrated flannel days were meeting their end, but the fight against all that the generation of grunge supporters reveled against was not at all lost. Fight Club was a cry against all that was later to corrupt the generations of today and without any doubt about it, the soundtrack of The Pixies “Where Is My Mind” closing the film could not have been any more poignant in it’s message.
The violence, the dialogue and the concept of a two sided personality appealed to the obvious viewers who took to the film being “cool” and unquestionably that stuff was pretty cool, but what all those things represented and the deeper complexity brewing below was what really made Fight Club tick and have the longevity to be one of the more important films to mark a generation or time in cinema. The idea that we as a youth were being compromised by focusing on so many “things” that we all “need” took us away from what Man is at the very core. One can’t be defined by the things 
they own, but by who they are and what they are about. Until you take those things away and look at what is left you can’t really see who you are. This entireideology was somehow conveyed in Fight Club, which was in my thoughts fantastically portrayed in the form of a dark comedy.
This generation is more obsessed with what Fight Club predicted as a future, “the woe of suburbia”. Music reflects it, TV programming reflects it, and consumerism reflects the fact that the newest generation is littered with a group of people obsessed with material things. Technological toys are the defining principles of people, and MTV tells kids who to vote for and what to wear. Theindividual has been replaced by a herd of followers wanting to have everything that television tells them is so important. When Tyler Durden preaches, these were the things he talked about, and whether you agree with him or not, the ideology behind his vision of what was happening to our good country is rather poignant. Crushing economic debt by ridding of all the credit card companies, making people economic equals was a radical thought, but considering what the country is going through at this time, perhaps it was something people should have contemplated maybe a little more seriously.
David Fincher knew what he was doing and no other director could have pulled this film off. That being said, there couldn’t have been two better actors than Brad Pitt and Edward Norton playing the roles of Tyler Durden and The Narrator. With Helena Bonham Carter as the mischievous love intrest adding a strange female perspective, but also a tool to explore the dynamic of Tyler Durden and The Narrator’s relationship was brilliant casting. The reveal at the end suddenly makes each of their names mean something a little more when giving it a repeat viewing, but then the film itself becomes 
almost a new movie the second and third and hundredth time around. This film doesn’t stop asking questions and doesn’t leave any doors closed to explore. It constantly evolves with your own perspective on the situations and that insane ingenuity is only a small part of the genius it took to construct every aspect of this film.
This film had incredible depths, entertainment value, and a shocking balance of all the elements that make a good movie. Fight Club is without question one of the greatest films ever made, with some of the most extreme concepts, perplexing questions, and moreover a plot that will drive those who are compelled to look further into it than it being a “cool” movie, even though it IS cool. Hands down one of my favorite movies of all time and by far one of the most relevant movies of a generation ending and a new age opening. This is the transition of a lifestyle and ideology of people while still entertaining. What more can you ask for? Guys beating each other up? Check. Buildings exploding? Check. Brad Pitt? Check. Ed Norton? Check. Telling your boss to take a flying leap? Check. A twisted plot so complex in it’s levels of self exploration it never fully meets an end? Check. This pulls out all the stops. Go watch it now. It’s more important today than when it was released.
This is one of my favorite films.
“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything. The things you own end up owning you.”
This movie is in my top 5, especially as an artist, this is required viewing, I am glad it got a perfect score from you. Wish I could tell my boss to go take a flying leap :[
Great review heather definetly one of my allll time favorite movies….loooove it!!!
I think you make a valid point when saying a lot of people don’t really understand how enlightening this film actually is. There is a lot that people miss by focusing on the superficial aspect of the story, but I guess that doppelganger only adds to it’s appeal.
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What a great movie this one is. I was blown away at the ending and literally wanted to just sit in the theater for the next showing so I could watch it all again with that new understanding of what just happened. It’s one of those movies I wish I could ‘un-see’ so I could watch it for the first time all over again.
I personally think the movie is a little overrated in terms of importance, but very enjoyable and at minimum creates conversation about real topics and concepts, which so few films actually do. I’ve always had a problem with people turning the Tyler Durden character into too powerful of an anti-hero and idol, because they were so seduced by Brad Pitt in that role. Pitt made the character so sexy it is impossible to not be attracted to it, which I think is a problem. The character is supposed to be powerful because of his confidence, but Pitt made it almost as much about his, well, amazing body and physical appearance that it diluted that. Honestly if Ed Norton with his American History X would have played Durden and done it well, it would have been about the real power and confidence of the character. And if that would have generated the same reaction, then this film would be truly special. Feel free to nuke me, I’ve had this argument a 100 times before and no one has been able to change my mind.
I want a bar of that wonderful soap!
I thought this review was pretty spot on, though I’d probably want to hear more specifically about the movie rather than just the philosophy behind it.
And Trapped: I don’t think that was Pitts intention, nor Finchers, it just was part of the raw essence of what Fight Club symbolized. Raw, sexual, and powerful. Pitt was NOT a sex symbol in this role.
I agree that this movie is pretty much one of a kind, as no one has been daring enough to try and complete similar storylines and put across the whole point of the movie. \
“This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time. -Narrator”
That is one of my favorite quotes EVER from movies !!!
Fight club was written by: Chuck Palahniuk
Yes, the novel was. The screenplay was written by Jim Uhls.