Fight Club

Sorry, But I Will Be Breaking The First And Second Rule Of Fight Club

Director: David Fincher
Release Date: 1999
Rating: 18
Running Time: 130 mins
Genre: Drama/Psychological Thriller
Actors: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham-Carter

How can you know anything about yourself until you get in a fight?

Lets face it, you don't need to have seen Fight Club to know the first rule of it (You do not talk about Fight Club), you may have needed to see it to know the second one (You do NOT talk about Fight Club), but when looking at David Finchers off-the-wall psychological thriller, you may need to talk about it once it's over as it's going to raise a hell of a lot of questions.

Ed Norton takes on the role of an insomniac office worker, consumed by today's world of marketisation and consumer products ('We use to read porno mags, now we read catalogues'). He needs something more to his life that the world he's trapped in, neither asleep nor awake and finally one day he meets a strange yet altogether likeable man, Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) when flying on a plane and Tyler ends up having a bigger impact on his life than he might have first thought. After a night of drinking in a bar, the two decide to engage in a drunken fight with one another, that begins to attract a lot of attention from others, who, like them, want to join in, thus beginning the foundation of Fight Club, but that's as far as I can go.

If you don't like fighting, violence, blood, or having your mind well and truly blown, I'd stay clear of this film as all of the above will play a big part in what you'll see. Fincher has a certain style of directing where he well and truly loves to shock (and even appal) his audiences leaving everyone with mixed feelings about what they've just sat and watched. But it's also a film that has got multiple layers to it, creating a very packed and intricut film. On the one hand Fight Club is an incredible film that takes you on a journey through the inner workings of the mind and on the other, it's an incredible film about a bunch of guys getting together and beating each other up.

What else is there to say about Fight Club? It's really one of those films you've got to watch to appreciate, but like many other David Fincher films (mainly Se7en) you'll be taken on a ride left feeling weird and wondering what the hell you've just watched.

A truly brilliant film, but may require a couple of watches.

8/10