Almost a Blockbuster

Rating: Null/10 (5 March 2001)

Fight Club is a movie that tries its hardest to become a blockbuster hit. It almost reaches that acclaimed status, but in my mind just misses it because of a sometimes confusing script that tends to boggle the viewer rather than entertain, and also because of...well I can't seem to find anything else wrong with it but maybe I will during the course of the review.
The plot, in a very quick summarization, is about 2 men, the Narrator played by Edward Norton, and Tyler Durde played by Brad Pitt. For really no reason they begin a "fight club" that quickly grows in popularity and power. It starts off as a neighbourhood club where guys can come in a release a little tension, and turns into a nationwide faction of anarchists. The plot flows pretty smoothly, and the storyline is fairly believable. It is really just a movie about Generation Xers standing up to corporate America, but in an in your face kind of way.
The acting is really well done. Edward Norton is perfect in his role. He's an insomnia stricken yuppy that has a perfect little apartment and a nice little job. He starts going to self-help classes because they help him sleep, yet still something is lacking in his life and he is not sure what. Norton really pulls his role off almost easily like he knows his character from experience.
Brad Pitt acts great in his role as the anarchist Tyler Durdon. However, I felt that I could not take him all that seriously because of his pretty boy image. Half of his scenes were spent with his shirt off which I imagine was used to help attract the ladies in this testosterone filled movie.
I enjoyed this movie, and yet the ending to me seemed rather tacky and used. Rather like those series finales on tv where the main character wakes up and everything was just a dream. It is kind of a cop out. However due to good acting, a solid script/plot, great action sequences, and damn good directing on the part of David Fincher, Fight Club easily makes up for any minor flaws it may have. The first time u view this movie u may feel rather lightheaded and confused at some parts, yet it all seems to fit in at the end. During multiple viewings, u begin to see the true brilliance in this film, the cold irony, sadistic humor, metaphors, and issues that are riddled throughout the film that you may not have noticed the first time around. Fight Club can be blatantly extreme, wildly ironic, thought provoking, and honest all at once. Few films can claim to be that, Fight Club can.