"I want you to hit YOURSELF as hard as you can"
(Fight Club)
Was that a bizarre year for flickage, or what?
We experienced the unorthodox but effective "Blair Witch Project".
We were treated to a creepy horror/supernatural film with startling
twists in "The 6th Sense". And we had a lame Antonio Banderas film
("13th Warr...oh, wait, that's not bizarre).
Well, guess what? That's right. Prepare for even more weirdness. And
it seems strange to me that Hollywood, who's been sinking lately with
a lot of crappy films, would suddenly wake up and discover its creativity
in the final year of the century. Ironically though, it turns out
that they didn't have to travel to the 'quest for fire' jungles of
Zimbabwe to find the good stuff..it was there in Hollyweird the whole
time, and its name is
David Fincher.
Ring a bell?
He's that twisted mind who shocked and entertained us with films "Se7en"
and "The Game". And I am thrilled to announce his 'return'..and its as warped as ever.
With "Se7en" he messed with our emotions, stapled us to the edge of
our seats and boxed up Gwenyth Paltrow's head. He then frustrated
us and re-invented the 2nd guessing game with "The Game".
I guess the only thing left is to piss us off while questioning our sanity.
Enter "Fight Club".
Enter a bitch of a film to review for sake of not giving anything away.
Yes, we have pretty boy/hunk/sexy stud/god of men/chic magnet Me.er.Brad
Pitt paired up with awesome actor of the now and the future, Edward
Norton ("Primal Fear", "American History X".for those in Zimbabwe),
and we have a lot of hand to face combat. But all that is simply a
disguise to what's underneath, to the theme/plot/point of this film.
But that's what I can't reveal. What I CAN tell you about is the 'bare bones club'.
Norton plays a financially secure office dweller who joins every self
help, 'listen to me I am dying' group in the city in hopes to cure
his insomnia. This eventually leads him to stud biscuit Pitt who turns
his life around...and sells soap (hell, even the soap has a sub-story).
Anyway, they move in together and beat the crap out of each other
for kicks. Turns out, crap beating is fun for every other hard working,
no-life shmuck in the city (hence, the Fight Club), and soon the club
turns into a Saturday evening 'physical' therapy session.
The surface would suggest the film is about letting aggressions out,
but that's far from it. Instead, we're talkin' about the human spirit
here. We're talkin' about setting life long goals and doing whatever
it takes to follow through with them, even if that means gun-point being the motivation.
Throw in gothic, artsy actress, Helena Bonham-Carter ("Wings of the
dove"), and you have three twisted people, a lot of violence, noisy
sex, and the destruction of all the credit card companies.
Sounding bizarre yet?
Well, that's all I can say...except for that its dark, fast paced,
brutal, profane and exciting.