A review that breaks rules #1 and #2 - Fight Club

WARNING: Do not hold up to open flame.

Ah Fight Club, one of those movies that seemed to be the perfect storm of awesome when it arrived. These days I group it in there with Pulp Fiction as one of the cliche favorite guy movies, and it has become one of those movies you just have to see.

I honestly hadn't seen the movie in years, and I was recently told that it didn't hold up as well as I remembered (by Fefi), a thought that I refused to even consider. So I picked it up at Costco and made a night of it. And I must say, not only does it hold up, but it might be even more relevant now than it was in 99.

It might sound odd, but in some ways Brad Pitt is like Jack Nicholson. Just stop yelling for a second and I'll tell you why... Every time each of them plays a sociopath or a crazy person it really just makes a movie a million times better. Siously, think about it. If  Fight Club was made in the 70's Nicholson would totally play Tyler Durden. But this is a comparison for a whole other post.

I wasn't kidding earlier when I called Fight Club a perfect storm. The story, the music, the acting, the cast. It all just fits.

Without spoiling the story (this might be tricky), Fight Club is without a doubt one of the biggest and most elaborate mindfucks I've seen in a movie. The type of mindfuck that just totally changes your view on the plot altogether when you see it again. And, to me, that's what makes this movie so great. You can re-watch it and find a new point in the story that just makes you think about how fucked up what you're watching actually is. If you haven't seen the movie, this paragraph makes no sense at all, but it just needs to be said.

The cast is as close to flawless as you're going to get. These roles feel like they were made for these people. Even the smaller parts are just perfectly cast. Meat Loaf as Bob immediately comes to mind as one of the most hilarious yet sad things I think I've ever seen. And seeing it after a couple of years, it's quite shocking how many people are actually in there; I mean, I had an honest "Holy crap, it's Jared Leto" moment.

The main character, played by Ed Norton, awkwardly enough has no name. Seriously. And this is done brilliantly to the point where I had to go all the way to IMDB just to check if his name was ever mentioned. It's not like in other films, where main characters remain nameless and that's 'their thing', in this case it just adds to the character; when he starts out he is the most unimportant man in the universe. And without giving much away, he does acquire a name (not his), and it just goes along with his transformation in the story, which is just really well done.

I mean, look at this sack of shit. He doesn't deserve a name.

His counter part (hint hint) is Tyler Durden, the pinnacle of bad-assery, of course played by Brad Pitt. Durden seems to take it upon himself to fix Norton, and of course hijinks ensue (to say the least). And as cool as Tyler Durden seems, it doesn't take a genius to see that something is off about him. Their friendship starts innocently enough, but it escalates rather quickly when they start beating the shit and piss out of each other.

It takes massive balls to wear shit like this.

The plot starts getting seriously twisted when a love triangle ensues between our two main characters and Marla, played by the always spectacular Helena Bonham Carter. Marla is without a doubt the most damaged woman in existence, and it feels weird because I'm just oddly attracted to her. This girl has issues that would drive most people insane, and that fact is made abundantly clear many times during the story. But what makes it interesting is that as fucked up as she is, it is made even more obvious that Norton's character is truly the fucked up one in their relationship. They play off each other brilliantly, and it just builds interesting characters.

She's so fucked up. I love her.

On top of all that, we have the soundtrack, which just helps suck the viewer into this experience. The Dust Brothers put together a score that just blends perfectly with the images. The drum loops at time are disorienting, but I think that's the idea. You need to be disoriented to go through what Norton goes through, and it's done in a way where you don't even notice it's happening until it's too late. It's rare to see music compliment an image this well, instead of being two stand alone expressions.

The only bad thing I can say about this movie is that the twist isn't all that original. It's been done. But it's not about the twist. It's about the message. And when you look at the bare bones of the message, it's quite cheesy. But since it's delivered in such an awesome way, you just end up walking away from this movie a different person. In this day and age, this movie just hits deep with most people. We all have our issues, and most people don't handle them properly.

So, why is Fight Club so awesome? It's a lot of things. But most of all, it has style. This is one of those movies that knows how awesome it is and it dares you not to like it. It's become quite the cult classic, and rightfully so. It carries a powerful message, and it delivers it without rubbing your face in shit. And I like that.

9/10