Interesting but absurd film

Rating: 5/10 (11 August 2000)

Boy, did I ever hear and read raves about this film, so I had to see it for myself. Although it succeeded in keeping me interested, I was fairly disappointed with it. I didn't empathize with a single character, and somehow I found it very unclear what the appeal of the fight club itself was. As a result, the cult that builds later in the film seems pretty absurd since the basis for it was so poorly explained. What's more, are we as viewers supposed to be able to identify with Edward Norton's character because he seems to have some conscience and a hint (however small) of normalcy? Not only didn't I understand where he was coming from (until the end), I didn't really care. I would give this film a score of 5 out of 10, because it had some good performances (namely Norton) despite not having much to work with in terms of script, and because it did keep me interested. I find it laughable that this film is trying to come off as art, though..