Fight Club

Rating: 6/10 (16 June 2015)

Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is a studious student in Harvard School of Journalism but is expelled 2 months before graduation when cocaine is found in his room. It actually belongs to his roommate but he decides not to fight his roommate's powerful family. He reluctantly takes the hush money to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) in London. His brother-in-law Steve sent him off with his brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam) to a West Ham United football game. Pete is the leader of the Green Street Elite (GSE). Each football team has their own 'firm' or gangs of hooligans who drink and fight together. They hate both cops and journalists.
Elijah Wood is a bit too much of a Hobbit to be a believable fighter. The movie could have given his character a little bit of skill to offset his disadvantage. There is a nice Fight Club feel about the mentality of these hooligans. The final act ramps up the drama in a way that puts me off a little. I guess the movie was always going to overdramatize the story but it could be less melodramatic. The soft rock music over a slo-mo montage of the big fight is a bit too much. I just wish it's more natural. Matt could have been caught by the cops and thrown out of the country. I also don't like Matt turning into lapdog. This could have been something great but it turns into more like Rumble Fish. It's not bad but it could have been better.