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| Directed by David Fincher; Starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Jared Leto, Zach Grenier, and Eion Bailey |
Earlier this year I had the treat of singing the praises of one of those three directors of the vanguard that happen to share my first name. David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ was the second film this year to receive substantial respect from me (first being The Matrix) and the first film this year to receive an A/**** rating (The Matrix ran off with an A-/***1/2). In enjoying eXistenZ, I also had the chance to remember that there were two more vanguard David’s to release films this year. The second was David Lynch’s The Straight Story, a uniquely quiet and down to Earth film for the Blue Velvet director. I have yet to see The Straight Story since it is only in limited markets right now. The third one and present one is from the greatest director to come from music videos, David Fincher. After directing two great films (Se7en and The Game) and one well made but poorly written film (Alien³) Fincher has taken some time off to make a film that was said to have blown away anything Fincher has made before. The project is Fight Club, a look at the violent side to every man, and is a good film. But I hate to break it to Fincher, it’s still no Se7en.
Fight Club is told through the eyes of Edward Norton, a man that lives his life in a cubicle, only getting out to fly around and lose track of where he is. He becomes lost in this occupational world until he finds refuge in a crazed soap producer named Tyler Durden (Pitt). He and Durden create a club for men, in which they get together and beat each other to a bloody pulp, a type of working man’s street fight. As the club progresses, so does the malice in the acts of Durden, becoming a wanted terrorist and producing a new project to make everything okay in the world.
The film is an unbelievable, uncontrolled piece of art. I’d say that Fincher joins Terrence Malick, Quentin Tarantino, and Paul Thomas Anderson as the best directors that have done only a handful of films. The film is a wild ride and a treat to look at. It is almost as much a treat to listen to as it is to watch with a adrenaline filled score by The Dust Brothers and a great closing song by The Pixies (can I hear a Golden Brando heading to Fight Club?). Norton and Pitt both shine in performances that they were born to play, Pitt as a 12 Monkeys-esque, carefree individual and Norton as man just understanding his place in life.
It is easy to see that I enjoyed the film immensely, but one question might arise: why a A and not a A+? Very simple, I found myself a little disturbed with Fincher allowing me to predict a joke from him thirty minutes before it happens. One of the great things about a Fincher film is that there is very little predictability and being able to predict a cinematic move on his part left me a little irked. Oh well, it is still one of the best things I’ve seen this year, probably the third best so far this year.
