Fight Club (1999)
by Kate Bishop
David Fincher's latest is a particularly self-involved film about lonely young adults with too much testosterone and not enough common sense to fill a shot glass.
notion of watching a film about two young, robust, attractive men starting a "cult" with all the inherent cliches of a movie geared towards the thirtysomething crowd. You know - people working their asses off for nothing and generally exchanging their real life with fantasy. As I watched the film it soon became obvious that the money-making incentive here is obviously, Brad Pitt, one of the screen's most adorable slabs of meat ever to be pulverized for the price of a movie ticket. I was expecting a mush-brained bit of fluff; Fight Club, however, is anything but a soft, cushiony fairy tale of Gen-X angst.
The film begins by laying out the depressing lives of Jack (Edward Norton) and Marla (Helena Bonham Carter, looking her most attractive in this film, is such a thing is possible). Their common interests lie in the their search for comfort that can only be found in that anonymous crowd of a support group. It doesn't 
matter what the topic may be, whether testicular cancer or tuberculosis, there's always a guaranteed happiness for these dumbstruck lovers in the knowledge that there exists people worse off than they. It helps Jack release his tensions and it postpones Marla's suicidal tendencies. Whatever gets you through the night, as they say.
Our pivotal meat slab, Brad Pitt, fills the role of Tyler Durden, who provides an ambitious and idiosyncratic persona to open Jack's sleepwalker's eyes to a new world beyond the safety of Starbuck's or the IKEA catalog. Jack is sucked into the words and sounds of everything Tyler commands. Whether it's stealing the liposuction fat out of the biohazard bins or allowing his hand to be burned by acid, there's nothing Jack won't do for
Tyler, a manipulative, egomaniacal fellow with too much time on his young and violent mind.
Soon the two form the Fight Club in the basement of a local bar, mostly to relieve tension, stay in shape, and keep from doing bodily harm to strangers on the streets. The popularity of the club grows exponentially, with Durden the erstwhile leader of this movement. Durden dispenses his wit and wisdoms to his newfound followers, spewing forth such tidbits as "self-improvement is masturbation; self-destruction might be the answer." Before long it seems as though Durden and Jack are trying to rediscover their reason for living while attempting to keep from drowning under the bureaucratic ideologies of society. They question why things are the way they are and yet no one in this world seems to be happy.
Eventually the fight scene is transported from the basement to their own home, which they share and which seems to be decomposing around them. The cult of fight club members is essentially nothing more than bunch of followers who cannot think for themselves, which is why they seek refuge under the guidance of Durden and Jack. As the movie progresses into a series of deconstructive actions towards society, Jack begins to recognize himself and 
how his personality has changed. As the revelation begins to hit (no pun intended), he struggles with the demands Durden makes on him. The ethics and the reasoning behind some of their actions create a conflict which tears Jack apart and thus brings an end to their relationship. This doesn't help matters much, as they are now involved in a threesome with Marla.
Fight Club is basically a mirror for all the angst-ridden, going nowhere young adults in their late 20's to mid-30's who feel that life is passing them by and yearn for something to make them feel alive again. Just wait until they really get old and wish they still had cartilage in their joints!
Watch for an early cameo appearance by Jared Leto. Don't blink or you may miss him as he becomes unrecognizable shortly after he is bruttally beaten by Edward Norton.
Finally, I think the movie did an fairly good job of portraying the individual's inner conflict while dealing with a fucked up society. Even if you're not feeling particularly violent, Fight Club is worth seeing at least once.
Kate Bishop is a graphic artist and writer in Atlanta, GA.
Got a problem? Email Kate at filmmonthly@hotmail.com