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Johnny Wad looks at FIGHT CLUB

Published at:  Oct 15, 1999 12:31:53 AM CDT

If I have a friend that is closest to Ed Norton's character at the beginning of FIGHT CLUB, it's Johnny Wad. He's one of those guys that works in one of them sterile universes of computer labyrinths... the type where they install flourescent life-sapping tubes that flicker at a hypnotic rate. Johnny Wad seems constantly drained.. but never quite ready for sleep. So... I figured he was ripe for the fire that is FIGHT CLUB. Would it drive him insane? Would he start beating me up or asking for me to hit him? So, when he told me he had to write about the film, I said... sure. So... here's Johnny Wad... may god watch over each and every one of you...





When I go to see a movie, I always hope that it will be able to fully and completely draw me into its world. FIGHT CLUB had me there by the
end of the opening titles. It started off as a pitch black comedy and then went on from there to get still darker. And I mean both literally and
figuratively dark. The image on the screen was so black at some points that I felt sure that there must be something amiss in the projection
booth. What this movie did was pummel me with a sensory overload of ideas, images, sounds, and humor for virtually every second from start
to finish. It was all done with a carefully measured pace that never left me behind but always challenged me to keep up. I can't say that I
assimilated all of the detail in every frame of this movie because there is so much going on that I don't think that it can be taken in with one
viewing. This density of information is so great that you have no choice but to open your eyes and ears and let it all pour into you. You must
submit to FIGHT CLUB to fully experience it. I can't recall anything quite like it. Perhaps THE MATRIX, but that looks like a kiddie matinee by
comparison.

The more I like a movie, the less I want give away its secrets, so you won't be getting any kind of plot synopsis from me. Going into FIGHT
CLUB I had heard a lot of hype and I had a case of dangerously high expectations, but I had fortunately managed to avoid any kind of spoilers.
You deserve the chance to have the same thrill of discovery that I got to experience. Without giving away too much, I'll now try to give credit
where it is due.

Edward Norton turns in a seemingly effortless performance as the film's lead, playing a timid, loser corporate droid so perfectly that I am unable
to see any hints of an actor in his performance. Because Norton's character is the most complete in the movie, we have more opportunity to see
what goes on in his character's head; we get to see what drives him. His performance may seem a bit understated, but it's a perfect
characterization. Norton won't get the recognition that he deserves because he makes it all look too easy.

Brad Pitt's explosive performance is every bit an equal to Norton's, though he gave me a bit of a cringe at first. In the scene where Norton and
Pitt's characters first meet, Pitt's mushmouth delivery makes it sound like he already has a fat lip. My fears of a mediocre performance had
vanished by the time he and Norton have their first duel in the street, however. From this point on, Pitt always projects a powerful blend of
charisma and menace. He's never been better.

Helena Bonham Carter provides excellent support in her key role as Marla Singer, a rather disquieting character that spends much of her screen
time making caustic remarks and burning cigarettes. Marla Singer is the type of dysfunctional, Goth girl that lot of guys will possibly admit to
having "dated" for a while, later moving on when the wild sex was not enough to justify their suffering. Maybe there's not enough of her
character in the movie, but Bonham Carter makes the most out of what she is asked to do.

Director David Fincher is truly the star of this movie. It seems that he really does his homework in choosing material that is a good match for
his stunning visual technique. I can't imagine a better match of script and director than this movie has. Fincher renders every frame of this film
with so much attention to detail that it makes his earlier works look almost amateurish. You can sense that he had his hands on every aspect of
this film's production to insure the quality that results. It's a true tour de force.

I should also mention that the Dust Brothers' score acts as an extremely effective mood enhancer. At times it is more sound effect than music,
seemingly generated inside your own head. There are also numerous special effect shots that perfectly complement the live action images on
the screen. It's good to see computer graphics used with imagination for a change.

You must be warned that the numerous fist-fights in this movie are depicted in the most authentic manner possible. These are not your
standard Hollywood brawls, but real fights where people lose their teeth, eyes, and lots of blood. Do you remember how it felt when you were a
kid and you fell off your bike and busted your head on the concrete? You'll remember it better than you want to when you're watching some of
these fights. It's a safe bet that certain defective units will be inspired to emulate scenes from the movie, but rest assured that the violence isn't
shown in a way that makes it look remotely attractive to any person who is halfway balanced.

This is also the kind of movie that will tend to polarize audiences. Some viewers will feel indicted because the social commentary strikes a little
too close to home, while others may feel that they can find no sympathy for the characters. Some will feel that it has more style than substance,
though I feel that the style alone is substantial enough to make this an incredibly entertaining experience. If it fails you for any reason, you will
most likely view it as a hateful, violent, negative experience. If you are to see where the characters in FIGHT CLUB are coming from, you must
not be afraid to have your own materialist way of life questioned.

This movie is about much more than fighting, if it's about that at all. It's similar to THE MATRIX in that it offers lots of ideas and questions, but
it leaves it up to you to sort out the answers. Don't worry about what kind of meanings people try to hang on this movie. It's really just pure
entertainment, and that's all that it ever attempts to be. It's possible that people are not quite ready for this film now, but I believe that it will
someday be seen as a classic reflection of its time.

Johnny Wad



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    Readers Talkback

  • Oct 15, 1999 5:50:25 PM CDT

    Johnny Wad's review

    by ency

    I work in an office too, and the part about always being drained but never quite ready for sleep hit me in the mind like a rat-food dispenser button, triggering me to think "get the hell off your ass, join a boxing club, and secretly pretend your part of a Fight Club". I appreciated Harry's set-up to Johnny Wad's review as him being another one of us saps that have our soul sipped away by bosses that don't actually do anything but have meetings about the people that do things--I'm not here to vent about work (I'll save that for the boxing club). I'm here to vent about Johnny Wad. Johnny with that set-up and after having seen the movie I expected some raging, pent-up piece saying, "fuckin' A, this is the movie I've been dying for". Instead you gave us the most sterile review I've ever read (and all day at the office I've been reading 'professional' reviews). Talking about performances, the director, the music, who cares, this movie is about the story. The novel is a brilliant read and is chock full of some of the best combinations of words to ever filter from brain to fingers to keys to eyes. "I want to have your abortion" is the most disturbing line I've ever read. Johnny, how does that line make you feel? Johnny, do you want to get in a fight? Johnny, are you going to be secretly pissed at your boss tomorrow? Johnny did the film open your eyes a bit to what really happens in the world, or are you just going to think that the best brands of soup just accidently happen to end up at eye level in every supermarket across the nation. Johnny? Johnny? Johnny? I'll fight you. I am Johnny's clenched anus review.

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  • Oct 15, 1999 6:55:37 PM CDT

    I've heard things, bad things...

    by all thumbs

    I want to make my own mind up about this movie, but I've seen some really bad reviews of it lately. Critics are calling it facist and other just say it's tries to be too much. I went over to Ebert's reviews and he said he loved the first act, but the rest of the movie was kind of...well, it's hard to put into a couple words what he said, but basically it was the entire fighting as a means of escape just doesn't work and the movie may be against the fighting but most audiences are not going to walk away with that opinion. And Lisa what's-her-face from Entertainment Weekly was on CNN and gave the film a D. Yikes! Has anyone in Talk Backdom seen this film yet? I really want to be optimistic and will still go see it, if only for Edward Norton's performance.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Oct 15, 1999 9:45:56 PM CDT

    Fight Club SPOILER

    by uncool

    I see this movie as nothing more than the pilot for a neat weekly series, like "Highlander." Think about it: at the end of the film Tyler, now freed of his negative-Tyler alter-ego and fully cognizant of the destructive forces he's unleashed, must now travel to all those cities where "bad Tyler" has established Fight Clubs and "Mayhem Projects" and attempt to prevent their terrorist activities from reaching completion while "posing" as their Leader but also escaping castration. Each week he'll have to seek the aid of some local yokel police who knows his men are "into something bad after-hours" promising said yokel that his men and the people of the fair city will be spared if yokel just trusts in "Tyler/notTyleranymore." Stashed at a motel somewhere near the city limits, of course, Marla waits at the end of every episode for the suggestion of some rough celebratory sex (except, of course, for the episodes in which she's kidnapped and held ransom by the renegade cop who's been section-8'ed off the force but is still scouring the continent for Tyler Durden because his partner was beaten to death off-hours at the original Fight Club) (which Tyler doesn't remember because he was that other tyler then...)
    Well, you get the gist. It's an okay movie, but I have to agree with all who say the first act is best. It was the same with the book. The rest is just fodder for folks who dig, as I say, Highlander. I'm not running down the aforementioned here, really, just saying that it's a mistake to consider Fight Club some work of art making serious statements about our society, even if it positions itself as such. It isn't. It's really a very silly movie. If someone had had the imagination to follow the first half hour or so of set-up (Norton's insomnia, zombie job, support group invasion, Bonham-Carter's character) to some other place, and kept the narrative whipping along at that same pace, and introduced a few more characters and a story that didn't knock it and ourselves over the head to be so "edgy"...well, I think we would have more than just another dark-looking Hollywood action movie on our hands.

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