Fight Club (1999)
"An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more."
Fight Club really deserves the right to be called a 90s classic despite premiering at the end of the decade. The style of this movie fits in with it's time - the music, costuming, lighting, and cinematography really helping with this. The concept itself is of course the ultimate highlight. The idea of this secret society revolving around people beating each other up evolves to reflect flaws of society that are still pretty relevant 20 years later.
While the writing can surely speak for itself, the cast really delivers excellent performances that bring these characters to life. Brad Pitt as the very charismatic rebel, Tyler, is a true stand out. Helena Bonham Carter as Marla is a wonderful supporting character. Of course, Edward Norton is the center as the Narrator. He displayed the character's development wonderfully as this miserable office worker takes a plunge into a new perspective on life.
What really puts Fight Club up there as one of the greatest movies of all time is the big twist at the end. Spoiler alert, but the Narrator was suffering from multi personality disorder big time, his other personality being Tyler. As someone who knew nothing about the film, the movie does a great job at hinting this, while not explicitly revealing anything until the last 20 minutes. I thought it was odd when Marla was wondering around the house that you never saw her or Tyler in the same room. That's when my suspicions began.
I was definitely more suspicion after my favorite scene when Tyler talks about his job at the movie theater. This is the the only scene that breaks the 4th wall beside the narration throughout. That whole concept of replacing a frame in a movie was such a great parallel to what was going on inside his head, and the fact that both guys were there explaining it validates this. Not to mention, in the beginning, I did catch a few flashes of who I'm guessing was Tyler, as if the director of Fight Club replaced a single frame to insert Tyler in the background before Tyler is introduced. And once it's all put out in the open and explained, all the build up is very satisfying.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆