Huh?

Rating: 5/10 (27 May 2006)

I have been attempting to watch IMDb's top-rated movies for some time, and I rented "Fight Club" with anticipation. I had breezed over the Palahniuk book and had been intrigued with the subject matter - I was looking forward to seeing how a capable cast and director would turn out the material into a film that was so highly rated here. Would this be a bullseye like "The Goodfather" or an overrated episodic fable like "Shawshank Redemption"?
Much like the subject matter, the film hits you right in the face from the beginning. The Narrator is on a quest for understanding. He initially explores this through encounter groups that challenge his ability to express vulnerability and to get in touch with his feelings. His quest remains elusive, and he meets the main female character Marla in the groups. She is also struggling. On a business trip flight, he meets Tyler, a soap salesman. His relationships with Marla and Tyler takes us through the rest of the film.
I will not attempt to describe the plot and evolution of the characters - this has been done quite well by others without exposing spoilers. I will say that this movie walks a veritable tightrope in the manner of Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, and Hung Kam-Bo. The first half of the film is dynamic, with tight crisp direction, cinematography, and dialogue - the characters are fleshed out and you believe them. Unfortunately, it begins to lose its grip about halfway through. The sense of a coherent ideology interweaved with complex character relationships is overwhelmed as director Fincher goes to the well too often with gratuitous violence. While violence is certainly an extension of the ideology here, the overuse of it convolutes the message. There is also a "surprise" that alters the viewer's perception, but it is carried out so implausibly and with such obviousness that the framework is further weakened. Near the end of the film, I began to become bored with the proceedings and had to restrain myself from fast-forwarding to the end.
Much has been alluded to here about the ending. Strong symbolism is certainly evident and the ending makes for a great recapitulative exclamation point. But, for a movie that is rated by viewers as the #33 greatest movie of all time, it ain't that great - the ending even becomes obvious as the two competing "characters" pull out all stops in advance. Movies such as "Public Enemy", "La Bete Humaine", "White Heat", "Donnie Darko", "The Matrix", and even the passive symbolism of "Castaway" made a greater impression on me.
I found "Fight Club" to 1/2 of a very good film, but this is ultimately unsatisfying. And what about the film's point of masculine evolution? The message of an enlightenment through aggressive clanship in hand with passive isolation has been explored in countless films to much better effect, including "American Me", "Lord of the Flies", "Brassed Off" (yes!), and particularly "A Clockwork Orange". The latter film is probably the best exemplification of this idea.
Overall, "Fight Club" doesn't contain enough to build a true ideology, mythology, or any real lasting impression for me. Its points become too obvious and blatant to give it any more than a 5.