Don't Spit in the Soup, Watch UFC!

Rating: 3/10 (28 March 2006)

Fight Club is incredibly over-rated.
Why? It wasn't the the acting, which was very good, or the direction, which was also true to the story. The problem was with the story and then with the "twist" ending. The story had no resonance because, except for the beginning, it wasn't believable as fiction or fantasy. Once our hero (the narrator) moves in with Tyler Durden, everyone in the story serves only the plot elements without ever being believable in their actions.
Other fantasy movies like The Matrix, LOTR, Memento, etc. manage to create a fictional world with somewhat believable characters. Some of them manage the "twist" ending very well. Memento's twist ending (or was it a twist beginning?) is excellent. Not Fight Club. It only piles on the absurdity.
It's clear that the author is violently against materialism, against creature comforts, against middle class values. Hmmm, is he promoting the idea of fighting with others (or yourself) to be free? Naah, not really. Does he actually show the damage a bare knuckle fight would really do? Despite all the blood and relentless smashing of faces, the answer is no. Just a few new bruises the next day and ready for more fighting. Ha! And just what is the message? Blow up the system? Embrace anarchy? Join a cult (or Support Group)? Change the world by spitting (or spewing other bodily fluids) in restaurant food? Who really knows? Maybe it's a good way to let us enjoy lots of brutal violence and make us feel better because there is a valuable and deep philosophy there. Haha!
If you want some good, healthy real fighting, watch Pride or UFC fights. After a brutal knock-out of an opponent, a UFC fighter was asked, "Why do you do this?" His answer, "I like beatin' people up!". Now that's believable!!