"What's Fight Club about?"

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2015)

The question is simple. The answer, not so much.
If this question is ever answered by the explanation of some brash, barbaric action film, I would suggest you end your conversation (and maybe friendship) with your counterpart immediately. I can't understand how many times I've heard this film described in such a way and it truly irks me and proves nothing more than the fact that this person was unable to look past the title. I'm almost certain this was actually Chuck Palahniuk's original idea in naming his book Fight Club: weed out the narrow minded audience and speak to the people in search of something more. In any case, the action in the film is not representative of the story, it is more so used as a platform to relay some of the underlying messages. There is incredible depth behind this film and you need to look past some of its seemingly tasteless features to find it.
Likewise, if this question is ever answered with a simple explanation, these people do not understand the film. The beauty of Fight Club is understanding that you cannot fully understand it. With hundreds of separate messages combined into one plot, there is no way to grasp the subject matter at hand. There are two forms of incomprehensible art: art that is so poorly constructed that it's intentions are not properly relayed, and art that is so methodical that putting it into words will only destroy it's beauty. Fight Club is the latter.
From solely a film point of view, the execution is fantastic. Being a devout Palahniuk fan and having read the book, I could not think of two actors who would have represented their characters better than Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Not to mention, they had an incredible challenge on their hands in basically putting an entire film on their shoulders. The supporting cast mast have had about 30 lines of dialogue in total, meaning Pitt, Norton and Helena Bonham Carter needed to be extraordinary in order to create a successful movie, which they were. The filming was exceptional and Fincher's interpretation and display were the reason it turned into a classic. In my mind, Fincher's greatest accomplishment was his ability to astound a numb 1990's society.
This film truly changed my outlook on many aspects of life. I know the film has different effects on different people, and some may not see it as "life changing", but it is a must watch for everybody. Touching on a range of topics - corporate takeover, modern society's view of men, and mental instability just to name a few - it was truly transcendent.
Palahniuk created the masterpiece, Fincher created a classic, and Pitt/Norton created perfection. Watch this movie.