April movie: Fight Club

[ravenus]

For me the movie really worked only in the latter part when the dual identity thing comes into the open. Till then I was somewhat bored. Durden for a long time was to me an unconvincing caricature whose entire anti-consumerist stance was not convincing and his being played by a major star and labeled hunk type was I thought a very wrong decision. But the dual ID thing made me consider the entire film in a different light.

It's still not a film I'd consider watching many times.

[Foxbat]

On a different note, one of my great complaints is that when you see the commercial for a movie, they more or less tell the whole story right in front of you

A trailer that tells you that much is normally a sign that what is being touted in front of your eyes is not a particularly good movie. I was in a conversation with a film editor last year and he indicated that most of the big money was in making a very poor movie look good in the trailer (and that way, enticing more people to pay to see it).

I especially enjoyed the Ikea inventory of his life.

Me too

[Marky Lazer]

Durden for a long time was to me an unconvincing caricature whose entire anti-consumerist stance was not convincing and his being played by a major star and labeled hunk type was I thought a very wrong decision.

Well, it's only unconvincing when Durden says "We were raised by television to believe that we'd be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars -- but we won't", because frankly Pitt is. However, Durden needs to be a hunk type, a charistmatic man. He tells Jack: "I look the way you want to look, I f*** the way you want to f***, [...]". Jack (Norton) is a kind of weak, skinny person. Durden is pretty, charismatic and muscled, a macho, a born leader. Pitt is cast pretty well I'd say. I thought, with exception of that one line mentioned earlier, he's a perfect Durden.

[Marky Lazer]

On an important side note... did anyone read the book?

[Foxbat]

The book is now on my 'to do' list

[weaveworld]

Originally Posted by Marky Lazer

On an important side note... did anyone read the book?

Yes Marky Boy - I read the book and I loved it!

[mikeo]

Originally Posted by Marky Lazer

On an important side note... did anyone read the book?

I read it! I had already seen the movie, which I thought was really good. The book is slightly different in bits, but I'd say the movie captured the feel of it quite well. It was also one of the first movies I saw with Brad Pitt where I didn't find him irritating in some way.

Marky - do you really feel that the movie has nothing to say about modern society and man's place in it? That it isn't even trying to do so? Just curious.

[Marky Lazer]

No, I don't think so. This is a story about a man who tries to find a way to come back in society, I think.

[conradbrean]

I thought it was kind of strange to hear Pitt go on about the evils of perfect teeth and skin, as the actor clearly epitomizes such traits. Norton is the man as far as I'm concerned. Did you know there is a PS2 videogame of this movie? You can punch Fred Durst, of Limp Bizkit fame, in it.

[davidkedward]

Simply one of the great movies of all time. David Fincher on fine form (if only he hadn't made Seven, this would have been his finest movie), Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham-Carter, Meat Loaf, Jared Lehto and all the others blasting their performances off the screen, a killer script, a mind-bashing novel and a brave, brave studio.

At the time it was the best violence I'd ever seen on film. The visuals are stunning - the way it plays with your mind, also. The soundtrack, the sound design - masterly. I'm a big film fan/geek/buff, and this one is hard to top.

Claming down now...

[starman7]

Great movie!

[Artur]

It's a very good movie. My favorite movie! The direction is tremendous and actors are excellent.

[spaceseed]

Fantastic film - one of my favorites in the past 10 years. It is an amazing look into how we are affected by modern-day consumerism. Love it!

[jomicro]

The production value, acting, editing, writing, directing.. Excellent film. Helena Bonham Carter made cigarette smoking look sexy again. In retrospect I think it paved the way for my love of mixed martial arts. Whereas before watching to men beat each other seemed barbaric, now it's wonderful entertainment at the highest levels of competition. I wish countries could solve problems with MMA champions rather than getting into wars. Even if a fighter did get a permanent injury, at least it would only be one person's life jacked up. Usually it's thousands.

That reminds me, it's time to watch UFC 87 - Seek and Destroy.

[Rez]

Fight Club is an exceptional film. I don't think that Brad Pitt was miscast, as one or two others have noted. Much of what Palahniuk writes about has to do with image and beauty and celebrity. Tyler Durden fits right in as one of his characters: larger than life, good looking, caught up in a system of commodification that they denounce. Pitt as Durden (the imagined "successful" version of our nameless main character) is easily as believable as Ed Norton, Jr. is playing a "normal Joe" with his level of stardom.

I have read the novel and others that Palahniuk has written. I can say that the "twist" regarding identity is something that Palahniuk employs in other places, and it just doesn't work as well for any reader after the third or forth time.

The film was a great adaptation, though, being mostly accurate. And one thing that I found exceptional was that the changes that were made from the novel to the film were intelligent and some might argue improvements. For example, the novel ends in a a different way (I will save the details in case Foxbat hasn't read it), but the final moment of the film works great for the medium. The buildings exploding while this somewhat cheesy moment unfolds between our "lovers" works great as Hollywood parody of the classic film ending.

Incidentally, Palahniuk's Choke is done and ready for release, if it hasn't been released already. It's about a guy who earns a living as a part time LARPer at a civil war festival and a part time diner who pretends to choke on his dinner to scam the people who give him the Heimlich maneuver to "save his life." He meets girls by pretending to be a sex addict and going to support group meetings to seduce the women there.

And Invisible Monsters, his best novel, has been in production for a while.