Interesting, surreal, and in some ways confusing

Rating: Null/10 (24 October 1999)

But not a spectacular film. This is another "question reality" film. More than anything, I liked the fact that this film was directed by David Fincher, who directed the extraordinary "Express Yourself" video. On that note, the look of this film reminded me of that video. Visually, it's a dazzling film; the cinematography is striking and almost spellbinding, plus the editing is terrific. There's A LOT of blood/gore in the film, but that should be expected in a film with a title like "Fight Club"(hint, hint: not for the squeamish). This film also has many amusing moments--I laughed throughout most of the movie. However, contrary to what some reviewers have said, these are NOT the best performances of the two male leads. I enjoyed Edward Norton's performance, but it cannot even come close in comparison to his tour de force performance in "American History X". Although I can't stand Brad Pitt, he acted well in this film, playing yet another unusual character.....but this performance cannot top his performance in "Twelve Monkeys". Furthermore, the enormous talent of Helena Bonham Carter, the darling of period films, was wasted in this film.....it wouldn't have made a difference if she had not been in this film. In fact, the whole presence of her character got annoying after a while. The most enjoyable performance was that of Meatloaf, playing the character named Bob--it was one of the most amusing things about the film. What I disliked the most about this film was that it was too long.....and the ending was disappointing. And, the film got confusing after about the first hour or so. Nonetheless, it was one of the better films of 1999, this terrible year for films.