Oct 31, 2003 02:10 AM
1872 Views
(Updated Oct 31, 2003 02:10 AM)
For those of you who have not seen the movie, Fight Club is not about fighting. Of course there’s fighting in it, but it is about conformity and the way a free life is restricted. Edward Norton (who’s character name is never given, we’ll just call him Jack) and Brad Pitt, who plays Tyler Durden, turn in brilliant performances, and Helena Bonham Carter is great at being the hopeless yet lovable piece of trash that is Marla Singer. The dialogue is, for the better part of the movie, narrative, monotonous, and altogether hilarious. The plot, while it does have a twist or two that is a bit cliché, does not suffer like some thought that it might. But the best part of the movie is the cinematography. David Fincher is a genius. From his shots of Jack’s imagination to his portrayals of brawls straight out of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Fincher knew exactly how he wanted everything to look, sound, and feel. Just watching this movie makes you feel dirty. Be warned, this movie is not for the feint of heart, so don’t give this movie bad reviews for certain scenes with say, a rubber glove, a cigarette toward the front of a pair of boxers, or a glimpse at what projectionist might really be doing, you were warned.
As for the story, some may say that they got lost watching it, but as long as you don’t try to backtrack while watching it, you should be fine. The movie starts with a man holding a gun in Jack’s mouth, he narrates with clever bits here and there, and the audience is thrown back to where it started; six months without sleep. The doctor tells him to try a testicular cancer support group so that he might not feel as bad about his small inconvenience, so Jack decides to give it a try. This is where we meet Bob. Bob is huge. In fact, the only thing bigger than Bob is his enormous tits (he was on steroids). Jack and Bob talk and then, as typical of most support groups, hug. Jack finds comfort when he hugs Bob and weeps. Jack can sleep now, but he has a new addiction for every support group he can find, he even goes as far as to go to a sickle cell support group. But in comes Marla a faker just like Jack; no diseases, no tumors, nothing wrong at all, she just goes because she gets small enjoyment out of it. Jack can’t cry with Marla around, but Marla has found all of his support groups. So once again, Jack can’t sleep.
We then find Jack on a plane and we are finally introduced to Tyler. Tyler makes soap, and then sells it for a hefty price. Tyler and Jack are very smart, and they trade snickering remarks back and forth in a bit of fun. We then see Jack going to his apartment. His apartment has blown up. Jack calls Tyler, Tyler buys Jack a beer, and before you know it they’re duking in out in the street outside the bar. Both men enjoy this and before you know it, it’s a weekly ritual.
I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to spoil anything more than I might have, but it only gets better. The entire movie is great, and you might have to see it again to really get it and see just how tight the story is, and, if you take the time to understand the characters, you just might find that they are on to a couple great ideas. If nothing else, see this movie for the Starbuck’s line and the hard to hear compost heap bit, you won’t get them out of your head for a long time. And one last thing, read this review AFTER you see the movie and you might pick up a thing or two.
