Powerful but Flawed

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 1999)

Edward Norton has a gift for choosing powerful films, and an even greater talent for performing his roles. In 'Fight Club', he does not disappoint. In fact, even Brad Pitt makes a decent showing of it, and the angelic Helen Bonham-Carter completes an impressive trio. Much of the script is darkly poetic, and the direction is fast-paced and in many parts fascinating. However, the initial shock of the plot loses steam about 2/3 in, and the plot becomes a bit muddled. Yes, it is intended to be mysterious and even a bit ambiguous, but somehow a message is lost somewhere in the montage of realization near the end. Unfortunately there are some short, lame moments of dialogue that seem cut-and-pasted in from other movies, and are glaringly out of place in this off-beat film. In summary I would say that this is an excellent alternative to the typical Hollywood movie, with a powerful message that was ALMOST delivered expertly.