On the surface a too-cool-for-school nihilistic alpha-male story, but underneath

Rating: 10/10 (2 April 2008)

Fight Club has all the parts required to make a classic film, a slick, bouncy script, star performances from Brad Pitt and Ed Norton and the chilling but meticulous direction that David Fincher brings to all his films. Yet at the box office it tanked, and reviewers, though intrigued by its boisterousness and attitude, were not too complimentary of its muscles and glamorisation of fascism.
But the fight clubs are not everything, a point that is easily missed considering the title. What is important is the almost Dante-esquire journey by the Narrator through his own personal hell, through the conformist "Ikea-porn" stage, through the enticing Tyler Durden stage and the Zen faux-enlightenment, and out the other side in an explosion of bittersweet emotion, the hand-hold with Marla Singer (a gloriously untamed display from Helena Bonham Carter) at the end showing potential that this is the final step in the Narrator's charred journey.
Brad Pitt delivers undoubtedly one of the coolest characters ever captured on screen, miraculously managing to do to soap what Steve McQueen once did to motorbikes, and it is easy to get wrapped up in his glorious ideals and intentions when this is in fact the story of the Narrator that we are watching, not that of Tyler Durden and his "Space Monkey" drones. Bearing this in mind, Tyler Durden should be taken simply a character that has been purpose-built to suck the viewer in, to make them believe every anarchic word he spits, because this is exactly how the Narrator sees him. This is still the Narrator's story, however, and Edward Norton delivers an understated but elegant performance, perfectly showcasing the dynamic and conflicting nature of his character, without trying to out-cool Brad Pitt.
This film is simply a joy to experience, prepare to be sucked into the Fight Club mind-set, and prepare to be pulled out again by the end. A whirlwind film that will leave you thinking long after it finishes.