Fight Club breaks conventions
Allen Ball - Staff WriterTuesday, October 26, 1999 issue
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Fight Club abounds with mindbending violence, biting humor and enough raw brilliance to make many moviegoers feel a bit uncomfortable, but in this case, it is good to be uncomfortable.
Fight Club marks a turning point in the careers of Helena Bonham-Carter, Ed Norton, Brad Pitt and director David Fincher. It also marks a turning point in American cinema.
On the surface Fight Club is about bottled-up rage. However, the film is about so much more. It presents a nihilistic vision of despair and repression in the years leading up to the millennium.
Fincher and screenwriter Jim Uhls do a bang-up job in adapting Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel of the same name. The blazing script is only enhanced by groundbreaking visuals created by editor James Haygood and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth.
Ed Norton puts further claim on the title of best actor of his generation in portraying Jack, a typical WASP with rebellious intentions. As Tyler Durden (Pitt) invades Jack's space, he leads Jack to an anarchic world where turning back is not an option.
Jack wishes to move past his monotonous job as an automobile safety checker. He is a wreck of a man. His doctor prescribes an offbeat remedy. He is to go to a church basement and hang out with a testicular cancer support group.
It is at this group that Jack meats up with "Big Bob" (Meat Loaf). Meat Loaf moves light years away from his turn as Eddie in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He shows more raw emotion than would seem possible for him.
Jack becomes addicted to the attention he receives at these group meetings. Soon he finds himself addicted to the support of the support groups.
As the film progresses Jack encounters Marla (Bonham-Carter), another support group junkie. While she arouses Jack, it is Tyler who scores with her.
Tyler helps Jack graduate from support groups to fight clubs. These are clubs where men beat each other into bloody pulps in order too free themselves from emasculation.
Ed Norton should receive an Oscar nomination for this role. He could excite audiences by reading from the phone book. Here he gives a much deeper performance than in The People vs Larry Flint and shows more raw emotion even than in American History X.
Ditto to Helena Bonham-Carter on the Oscar nod. She is always excellent, but really outdoes herself here as Marla. Bonham-Carter is known for making her characters jump off the screen. Not only does Marla jump off the screen, she slaps you in the face as well.
I have never been a Brad Pitt fan, but he really did an excellent job as Tyler. He is freakier, funnier and flat out better than you've seen him before.
Oscar nominations seem a sure bet for editing, cinematography and set direction. If there is any justice, Norton and Bonham-Carter will receive nominations as well. Don't count out Brad Pitt; he could easily sneak in to the Oscar mix.
For theater listings and show times for Fight Club, check out the Daily Beacon online at dailybeacon.utk.edu/movies.
