Clever Satiric Take On Advertising With Airtight Performances and Visually Breathtaking Direction

Rating: Null/10 (14 January 2007)

'Fight Club' is a 1999 film directed by David Fincher and stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It centers on our Narrator (Norton), who's apartment is decked out in the pornography of IKEA furniture. Sensing his life is incomplete, he is dissatisfied with...something. He can't sleep. So he begins to frequent support group meetings faking diseases. He cries, so he sleeps. Then she ruined everything. Marla Singer arrives, so he can't cry, and he can't sleep.
By happenstance, our narrator meets Tyler Durden on an airplane. They chat, then go their separate ways. But the Narrator's apartment (and all of his IKEA furniture) is destroyed by a gas explosion, and he has nowhere to stay. No he calls Tyler. The two start a club where men can fight and feel like gods. But I'm not supposed to talk about it.
This film was a flop at the box office when it first came out. I can guess many reasons for this, but I'm sure that the no. 1 reason would be misleading advertising. It was marketed as an action movie with lots of fighting and violence. But the fighting is a little part of a bigger picture. What audiences got was a satiric and gory take on advertising, and an entertaining one at that.
The performances in this film are perfect for its context. Brad Pitt shows us all that he really can act. He portrays the absolute coolest character ever put onto film. Edward Norton shows us that Jerry Lewis is not dead--he is a great physical actor that gives us the perfect blend of comedy. His 'fall' is akin to Jerry Lewis.
David Fincher stylizes this movie in a way that makes it great to look at, but also shows us that if it was filmed any other way, it wouldn't have worked. His attention to detail is amazing. Jeff Cornwerth's green photography is visually breathtaking.
Overall, this is a funny, yet dark take on advertising with the byproduct of fighting. Worth buying and watching over and over.