American Beauty, Fight Club wanna-be

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2000)

If anyone has been paying attention to American media culture in the last 5 years or so, Fight Club is an amazing wake-up call. I have not looked at the world in the same way since seeing this film. I cannot watch certain commercials on TV anymore without flashing back to the film's messages. No wonder none of the major award franchises even gave this film a nod - it is much too radical, much too reality-based (ironically), much too confronting. In other words, everything they don't want to deal with. The acting was great (ok, Norton is a demi-god at least), the script tight, the cinematography a wild sensuous ride.
For a film dealing with similar concepts, American Beauty is milk toast in comparison.