Fight Club (1999)

Written by Wuchak on July 2, 2021

Finding enlightenment thru beating each other to a pulp

A 30 year-old man in Los Angeles works the office drudgery, but suffers insomnia (Edward Norton). He’s finally inspired by an unconventional woman he meets at support groups (Helena Bonham Carter) and, especially, a devil-may-care guy who lives on the outskirts of town (Brad Pitt). They start an underground club where men get together and vent their frustrations by beating the crap out of each other.

"Fight Club" (1999) has a huge reputation as a stylish cult flick and is often ranked with the greatest films ever made. The first half is entertaining enough, both quirky and amusing; and I like the interesting themes explored: Escaping the maternal and material, being a slave to advertising, rebelling against life-stifling conformity, being a blind follower of a charismatic leader, finding your inner wild-man, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Cool, the nature of lawless “revolutionaries” (which is too reminiscent of ANTIFA thugs), the struggle with homosexuality interpretation, etc.

That’s all highly commendable. Unfortunately, the second half isn’t compelling. I sat there bored and couldn’t wait for it to end. “Donnie Darko” (2001) had the same problem – promising set-up with clever ideas, but a tedious wrap-up. Meanwhile the twist that everyone gushes over is actually underwhelming and not very surprising, although it’s relatively interesting.

Moreover, watching guys get radically beat up is only entertaining a couple times; after that it gets redundant. Speaking of which, how exactly does bare-knuckled fighting inspire or enlighten? Does it really help one’s life to have missing teeth, black eyes and other assorted injuries? Of course the movie doesn’t emphasize the long-lasting negative effects of regular brawling. Have you ever met a brawler, boxer or professional football player in his 50s with the perpetual aches & pains?

Cult flicks like “Pulp Fiction” (1994) deserve the praise and stand the test of time; this one disappoints mainly due to the curiously dull second half. But it's genius on the metaphorical level no doubt.

The film is overlong at 2 hours, 19 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-