I will be the first to admit that I had doubts about Fight Club. When the movie was first promoted for its debut in theatres, the advertisements, I believe, gave a representative impression of the film’s actual content. I thought, like many others, that Fight Club was going to be another lackluster production filled with all the clichés you would expect to see in a Van Damme-esque action misadventure. It took some goading but I finally decided to give this movie a chance, and I would highly suggest that anyone who has not should do the same.
For anyone who is tired of the prefabricated plot lines that dominate today’s movie industry, you know the ones for teeny-boppers and the sequels to movies unfit for original production, Fight Club is a refreshing alternative. The star-studded cast, Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter, provide the perfect chemistry for this deceptively brilliant critique of the modern man. David Fincher, who also collaborated with Pitt in the movie Seven, captures the essence Chuck Palahniuk’s novel with beautiful cinematography.
The junior executive, played by Norton, is struggling to swallow his mundane existence. He suffers from a variety of ailments, from depression to insomnia. Norton’s character, the narrator, whose name is never revealed during the film, an example of the subtle nuances that make this production so appealing, lacks a sense of identity, as is expressed in the following quote: “I’d look through the catalog and think, what kind of furniture defines me as a man?” Palahniuk, very cleverly, illustrates how disillusioned and materialistic society has become. Tyler’s occupation of a soap salesman is yet another example. He sells his luxurious soap, made from lye and the pilfered fat from liposuction clinics, back to the very clients who supplied the materials.
Underneath the comedy, the drama, and, at times, the brutal violence, lays an exceptional social satire. Norton’s character and his partner in crime Tyler Durden, played by Pitt, revolt against the twenty-first century image of man. A prime example of Palanhiuk’s contempt for the feminization of man occurs when the two board a bus. They see a Calvin Klein advertisement of a perfectly groomed young adult male devoid of imperfections and body hair. Tyler asks, “Is that what a man looks like?” They both laugh and express their sympathy for people following the path of superficial self-improvement.
The film broaches some rather controversial social issues, which separate it from most conservative contemporary pieces. Many women, mothers especially, were offended by the line, “We’re a generation of men raised by women; I’m wondering if another woman in my life is really what I need?” I thought that was a goal films; they are supposed to be about eliciting emotion.
This film’s cast and director combined to produce a film that will not be soon forgotten. From the horror of the Norton and Leto fight scene to the compassion and sorrow of support group scenes, Fight Club takes you on an eye-opening voyage through the mind of a man gone mad from banality. If you have not watched Fight Club yet and are tired of the same regurgitated garbage, check it out next time you have a chance.
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