Fight Club - Often parodied, seldom bettered

Chances are, if you’ve watched any popular movie over the last fifteen years or so, you’ve probably heard the line, ‘The first rule of *whatever* is do not talk about *whatever.*’ This is of course the most famous line from the Brad Pitt/Edward Norton 1999 classic, ‘Fight Club.’ In a nutshell, Fight Club is so good it’s spawned many parodies and rip-offs, none of which have even come close to emulating just how good it is.

I’ll give you a brief plot synopsis, but leave it there, as if I go into too much detail, I start running the risk of letting slip some major spoilers.  Edward Norton plays a bored and run-down salesman who spends his days flying across America selling his wares.  However, his dull life takes a turn for the interesting when he happens to bump into Tyler Durden (or rather Brad Pitt) on a plane.  The two of them form an unlikely bond and come up with a novel way of dealing with male stress in the modern age – they beat the hell out of each other for fun.  And, believe it or not, this idea soon spreads across the nation and ‘Fight Clubs’ start springing up everywhere.

It’s about now in the review where I list the good and bad points of the film.  However, I can’t actually think of anything negative to say about Fight Club and, if I listed all its plus points then I’d probably be here all day.  There’s very little wrong with this film in general – it has everything from great central performances from Pitt, Norton and Helena Bonham Carter (and even a sterling performance from Meat Loaf – who’d have thought!) to wry social commentary, snappy dialogue and those plot points I refuse to mention for fear of being hounded off the internet for spoiling movies.

As I’ve already eluded to, there’s definitely more to it than the synopsis, but anything more may ruin the surprises in store.  Whether you like dark, intelligent thrillers or just want to see Brad Pitt topless, you really should check this film out at some stage.  It’s already a classic and, even after all these years, holds up very well with its themes of fragile male ego, bonding and the establishment in general. 

When I watched it last I felt it had an almost ‘Hitchcock-vibe’ to it all, which would explain why it all feels so dark and timeless.  If you haven’t seen it, don’t ask people about it, as they may well give away bits of it that will stay with you forever.  Just watch it.  Then re-watch it again with a completely different view of it all when you know what it’s really about.

10/10 The Monty Python Knights of Camelot are currently looking for this