One of the Elite

Rating: 10/10 (15 April 2009)

What is Fight Club? Like its main character, it takes on many different identities and seems like quite the epic journey to self-realization. Sometimes it's an action flick. Other times it's a thriller. Maybe even a light comedy, and it's all thrown into a philosophical masterpiece. Fight Club tells the story of the narrator (Edward Norton) whose life is in turmoil due to an extreme case of insomnia. He turns to self-help groups, which cures his insomnia because he sees people who are worse than him. The character is never given a name because he cannot attain a true identity. He is lost within the world as another soul with nothing to live for.
The director (David Fincher) injects a lot of comedic moments throughout the film that work quite well. It is in fact a dark comedy, for example when they joke about a woman with cancer. Except, even with this subject matter, you find yourself laughing at what she and the narrator says. In turn, you feel disgusted with yourself and find yourself staring eye to eye with Edward Norton's character. He too is disgusted with his entire life and is stuck in this endless cycle.
He then meets Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, who seems to know exactly who he is inside. He is everything that people are not, specifically the narrator. I found myself wanting to be Tyler Durden mainly because of the way he handles himself. Brad Pitt's performance is wonderfully captivating as he teeters on becoming a psycho and yet you want to join in with that madness.
They both decide to start a fight club in which people fight with one another in order to feel something again in their numbing worlds. The film is definitely geared towards the younger audience, but then again if you dislike the world at points of your life, you can relate.
The only real flaw within the film is it gets a little off track. It delves into the excessive and overdone specifically with the "space monkey" scenes, but is able to get on again after a while. By the end of the film, the viewer is exhausted as the narrator aimlessly tries to find Tyler again after he leaves him. Although, he doesn't really need to find him ever again. I could tell you why, but that would be breaking the rules of Fight Club. The film successfully uses this plot twist to further its themes, but also add another dimension to the story for the audience.
The film is able to work on many levels due to the amount of relating the audience can do with their own life. This is a story about how society is one big commercial. They are rebelling, specifically Edward Norton's character, towards that feeling and creating a new one by feeling a fist against their cheekbone. They are all so infuriated that by the end of the film, they watch the credit card buildings burn down to the ground. But none of them are scared, they know who they are and that's all that matters.
The film touches on so many different subjects and tries to cover every reach of the human emotion. This is its brilliance and pitfall. It overreaches at some points, but grabs hold of something much greater at others. The film makes the viewer think on a grand scale and gives them questions. I still haven't been able to shake it off even after ten viewings. By the end of the film you won't be asking yourself what is Fight Club, but who am I?