In response to someone who had barely scratched the surface of the meaning of the film

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2009)

Well, for starters (and this may not necessarily be a reason for your son's infatuation) - I love Brad Pitt. He is highly attractive and usually puts himself in good, entertaining romps. that said... It is a unique role for him. the movie is a literary adaptation too, which you may have known, and I happen to like the author's work as well. Back to Fight club itself - I am not a fan of meeting in a basement to beat up other people intent on beating me up to relieve the tension of a monotonous life. I think it explores interesting questions about what is right and wrong, good and bad, acceptable and taboo. For instance, the main character /narrator,(edward Norton), is, throughout the whole movie, schizophrenic, and actually is imagining Brad Pitt's character, "Tyler Durden" the entire time. He just can't accept himself fully which is clear by the way he is always fighting, physically or not, against Pitt's character's existence. I found it entertaining to watch the struggle, the success of fight club, the unexpected consequences of living this hard, man-tough, do anything and live to the max lifestyle. The idea is I guess that in a modern world, men cannot test their strength and feel fulfilled unless they've survived grueling challenges.. and participate in unchecked anarchy. Durden puts the main character through a series of grit-testing experiments to determine if he is worthy basically of being a man. I guess the real message is a little fuzzy but by the end you're rooting for Norton just because you feel for the guy, you want him to live a happy healthy life but you know he can't, he's doomed, and burdened, a true tragic hero to the end when he blows his head off (literally). This seems like a bit strong of a statement, but it was bound to happen. The vandalism the 20-odd group of violent, full grown men ("project mayhem", durden's big master plan) starts attracting the wrong attention and he feels trapped... and really no one could release him from his alter-ego. So, he pulls the trigger, knowing finally that he's crazy, and thats the only way to get rid of chronic-insomnia-causing Tyler. Sadly it takes him the whole movie to realize he shouldn't be listening to the voice inside his head but its a real head trip when you realize whats going on as an audience. I dunno.... I don't tend to be entertained by many movies unless its wickedly hilarious (like a Mel brooks classic), involving lots of epic scenes (300 for example), really challenging subject matter (my sister's keeper) or some absolutely mind bending stuff ( fear and loathing in las Vegas, the labyrinth, no country for old men). I also enjoy all other Quentin Tarantino movies --- sickly satisfying, since some people in this country have a weird appetite for brutal take-no-prisoner modern kung fu epics.Like me. Not like i'd like to shave someone's scalp off with a sword myself but in a movie, anything goes really, and the bigger the better, because if Im going to pay 10 bucks for a movie ticket or 20 bucks for a DVD it better be like nothing i've ever seen before. I think Fight club achieved that.I probably rambled on about it but I tried not to just blindly defend the subject matter... its not a family movie but its good. :)