Mischief. Mayhem. Soap. Sorry I did not like this film at all!

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 2003)

While I know this movie made a big fuss on virtually the entire movie world, I am one person whose game enough to admit that he did not like it at all. Yet half way through it I was thinking, yeah this is ok'. However by the end, I was confused and disappointed, as this film took me to places that I could never have imagined.
The mundane existence of a product liability evaluator and insomniac, who is addicted to self-help groups, is turned upside down when he meets a sado-masochistic anarchist who is secretly plotting to overthrow civilisation. As their friendship grows, they become increasingly involved in a secret society of "fight clubs" where men act out their aggressions and violently beat one another to a pulp. In the meantime, the evaluator falls in love with a woman who is also addicted to self-help groups, but is unable to act on his desire for her.
Director of Fight Club was David Fincher, who had done some really good movies, such as the Michael Douglas thriller The Game' and the murder mystery, Se7en'. Yet with Fight Club', I found myself getting more frustrated, as the movie continued on. This I believe has to be due to the direction of the movie by Fincher. I mean, what was the last 30 minutes of the movie actually about? I am still unsure, do not want to know, but will say that it did not impress me.
However the movie's story did have some good elements. I enjoyed the idea of an underground boxing' club, as was the scummy setting that we see the movie placed in for the majority of the film. But the brutal, ungloved beatings were for me, pretty hard to take, as was some of the violence that went on after that, and as I have mentioned, I did not like (or understand) the end of the movie, which made the film's story seem crazy for me. The idea for the story of this movie was taken from the novel of the same name, by Chuck Palahniuk. While the screenplay for the movie was written by Jim Uhls.
The movie stars a reasonably good cast. Main star, known only as Narrator (Edward Norton) was one character that I found myself in some way liking. He is an angry depressed man, whose is in a frustrating job, but life is about to have a big change. This change is due largely to him meeting up with Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). Tyler helps narrator out, giving him a place to live. Yet he also gives narrator a look inside the weird and ugly world of the Fight Club'. Tyler states The first rule of Fight Club is - you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.'
While I know that many people found both Norton and Pitt to be great performers, I found some of Pitt's character traits to be really disturbing, especially when he keeps inviting fellow boxers to bash him up', like the scene where he tempts and pushes Narrator to flog him pretty bad. I also feel that Durden's ideas behind the fight club are bit hard to take. Look I preferred Pitt in movies such as Thelma and Louise' and the wonderful movie Interview with the Vampire'.
Narrator is also addicted to support group meetings', going to one every night of the week. This is where narrator meets a bizarre chain-smoking woman called Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter). Her character brings in the strange sexual ideas into the movie. It is easy to understand that her character is angered by the men in this movie, who would prefer to bash each other around, then to have sex with her. In a world set in reality, that would be quite unusual. I enjoyed Helena's performance (and movie for that matter) much more, in the 2001 remake of The planet of the Apes'.

I recently had a shot at well known Chicago movie critic, Roger Ebert, for his harsh words on the movie Dead Poets Society'. But while he is entitled to his opinion and I am to mine, I was trying to think of the reasons why I struggled to like Fight club', so I decided to read his opinion on this movie. I have to agree with his conclusion, which states: "Fight Club" is a thrill ride masquerading as philosophy--the kind of ride where some people puke and others can't wait to get on again'. I have to admit that I am part of the first group, who by the end of this film could not wait for it too finish. I am sure that the majority of you out there were the latter, wanting more and more. I kept looking for the ending titles, so I could end this violent blood-bath of a movie.
CMRS gives Fight Club': 1 (Bad Film)