Fight Club (1999)

 "How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?"

I first saw this film when I was in high school, and let's just say I went into a 'Fight Club' phase. No, I wasn't starting any underground fight clubs, but I immediately decided to read the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, and I became transfixed by its message.


For those of you who haven't gotten around to seeing it (which I highly recommend you consider), the film centers around Edward Norton's character (the nameless narrator), who has been suffering from severe insomnia.

 "When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake."

After taking his doctor's advice to witness more severe suffering, the narrator finally finds relief by attending support groups - whether it's for people diagnosed with testicular cancer, brain parasites or tuberculosis. The narrator becomes addicted to going to these meetings because they provide him with an emotional release that allows him to sleep at night.

"Strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery one."

However, the problem occurs when the narrator notices a certain female has recently been attending all of his same support groups. Cue Marla Singer (played by the lovely Helena Bonham Carter). And yes, Marla even attends the testicular cancer group, which she claims to have more of a right to attending seeing as how the narrator still has his testicles. The narrator is no longer able to get the same satisfaction while knowing there is another faker present. So, they decide to split the groups up and alternate days.

Then, the narrator meets Tyler Durden. Quite an interesting character, Tyler seems to embody all the things the narrator wishes he could be. He's cool, he's confident, he's not attached to material things and he just doesn't seem to give a damn about societal standards. In fact, he despises them.

"The things you own end up owning you."

After the narrator's IKEA-furnished apartment unexpectedly blows up, he comes to live with Tyler. Long story short, they decide to start fight club. Surprisingly enough, it gets quite a following. Men from all walks of life flock to these underground battle royales, and it seems to mean something special for each one of them.

That's as far as I want to go with the storyline, though, because I don't want to spoil the ending. But I will say that the club becomes something much larger, and there is definitely a fun and unexpected twist at the end.

For those who do want to know the ending... *spoiler* we discover that all these unaccounted for time lapses are actually due to the fact that Tyler Durden is the narrator's alter-ego. He never existed, at least not as a separate person. The narrator became him while he thought he was sleeping. Tyler embodied all the traits the narrator wanted to encompass but was too afraid to. So, in the end, the narrator has to "kill" Tyler or be killed by Tyler. This never-having-existed twist was so mind blowing and original in its time. No one could have seen it coming.

What's interesting is that the film was panned by many critics when it originally came out, largely due to the high level of violence. Only later, after the movie had been released on DVD, did it gather a cult following (interestingly enough, several actual fight clubs were reported to have started in the U.S.). I think it's a mistake to think this movie is advocating violence or nihilism. If anything, it's a reflection of contemporary manhood. Fighting was the only way for them to experience feeling in a society where they are otherwise numb. There's one scene where Tyler and the narrator are on a bus and see a half-naked man on a Calvin Klein ad, and the narrator asks, "Is that what a man looks like?" Tyler responds with "Self-improvement is masturbation. Now self-destruction..."

Tyler Durden: Do you know what a duvet is?
Narrator: It's a comforter.
Tyler: It's a blanket. It's a fucking blanket. Now, why do guys like you and me know what a "duvet" is? Is this essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then?
Narrator: Consumers...
Tyler: We are the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra...
Narrator: Martha Stewart...
Tyler: Fuck Martha Stewart! Martha's polishing the brass on the titanic. It's all going down man! So fuck off with your sofa units, and string green stripe patterns.

'Fight Club' has an interesting take on modern culture and how advertising has essentially emasculated men and turned them into a society of spectators. Our material culture ultimately defines our external signifiers of happiness, while the more meaningful pursuit for spiritual happiness is neglected. At it's most basic level, the film is about a man who is trying to redefine his place in the world. 

"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."

Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter were excellent choices, and all of them delivered exceptional performances. The movie also has some interesting visual effects that still blow me away to this day. There is something very cool about the way the movie has a dark look and feel, and I personally enjoy the special images spliced into a few of the scenes. And, although the movie has a slightly different ending, much of the storyline is very close to that of the novel.

The funny (and slightly sad) thing is, Fight Club's message still rings true to this day. As I sit here on this Super Bowl Sunday hearing a commercial for the Ritz Cracker Pre-Game Show, I can hear Edward Norton's voice in my head.... "When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything... the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."

But if asked, you didn't hear any of this from me, because the first rule of fight club is: you do not talk about fight club. 

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Genre: Drama, Comedy
Synopsis: An office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression. An office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression
Rated: R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language
Running Time: 2 hr. 20 min.
In Theaters: Oct 15, 1999 Wide
Distributor:20th Century Fox
Directed By: David Fincher
Written By: Jim Uhls

Memento (2000)

"Some memories are best forgotten." 

Let me start off by saying that I think Christopher Nolan is a genius. This movie continues to intrigue, confuse, puzzle and entertain me, and I always seem to catch something new with every viewing  - which is truly the sign of a great film. 

What makes this film so impeccable is that its viewers have come up with so many different theories, themes and revelations about the actual Truth behind the film, and it is that Truth that the viewer and narrator are searching for from beginning to end. Any movie that keeps you thinking about it even days after you've seen it is worth closer inspection. 

The film begins at the end, so to speak, and works its way backward. The narrator and lead character is a former insurance investigator named Leonard Shelby, played by Guy Pearce. We learn that Shelby suffers from short-term memory loss. He can't make new memories after the night he received the head trauma that left him with anterograde amnesia. As he recalls, that was the night two men broke into his house, raping and killing his wife in the middle of the night. He walked into the bathroom to find his wife beneath his attacker, wrapped in a shower curtain. He managed to shoot one of the two men, but the other hit him from behind and got away. 

Ever since that night, however long ago it actually was, Leonard has made it his life's purpose to seek and kill the man who got away. He uses notes scribbled on polaroid photos and various tattoos all over his body to help him navigate his life. 

The movie moves backward from the moment he kills the man he believes raped and killed his wife to how it all began on that fateful night of his wife's death. 

However, as I sit here trying to write about this film, I am finding it hard to really give a synopsis because nothing in the movie is exactly as it appears to be. There are very few certainties. A lot of it is up for interpretation, which makes it all the more exciting. 

Throughout the film, Leonard often brings up the name Sammy Jankis, who he recalls was a man he had to investigate for possible medical insurance fraud. Sammy suffered from the same form of short-term memory loss, although there was a significant difference between Sammy and Leonard (as Leonard so often likes to point out) - Sammy was unable to condition himself. He could not learn something even if it were repeated the same way everyday, which Leonard says is something controlled by a different part of the brain. This led Leonard to believe that Sammy's condition was mental and not physical. This comes as a big blow to Mrs. Jankis, who seems to think she should be able to snap her husband out of his state. She tries a series of different tests to see how far she can push him, which ultimately leads to her final test. She, a diabetic, has Sammy re-administer her insulin shots repeatedly, each time setting back the time on her watch, to see if he would really let her die. Unbeknownst to Sammy, that is exactly what happens. 

Tattooed on Leonard's left hand are the words "Remember Sammy Jankis." I believe this was a way to motivate himself to live a life with purpose and action, rather than Sammy's life of meaninglessness. Leonard was constantly driven to find his wife's killer and bring him to justice. It gave him purpose and meaning, even if it would be a justice he wouldn't remember the next day.


We quickly find out that the people supposedly helping him over the last few days are not pure in motive. Natalie, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, and Teddy, played by Joe Pantoliano, are using Leonard for their own personal means and neither are truly upfront about their identities.

The movie plays with the concept of memory. Leonard lives his life based on what he believes are facts and absolute truths. 

Leonard: Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.

As the film goes on, we begin to doubt Leonard's so-called facts. Things aren't as they initially seemed. And in the end, we find out that the truth is more than anyone bargained for. 

What also sets this film apart is how it is laid out. We have to piece the puzzle together just as Leonard does, relying on jotted notes and fragmented time. If played backward, the movie would run in chronological order, but what would be the fun in that? This progression, digression, progression sort of flow added a dimension to the film that really took it to the next level.

For those who have seen the film.... 


In the end, we discover that Leonard has indeed already found and killed his wife's tormentor, according to Teddy, who is trying to snap Leonard out of it. We also learn that Leonard's wife was the one with diabetes, and he was the one who overdosed her with insulin. The story begins to fall into place, or unravel, depending on your point of view. 

Leonard doesn't seem to want to believe all of this, and he can't seem to remember his wife having diabetes for sure, or killing his wife's aggressor, although Teddy has a picture of Leonard in extreme bliss, pointing to the spot on his chest reserved for the tattoo saying he finally did it. 

You are left questioning just about everything. 

Then it gets even more unexpected. Leonard essentially sets into motion a set of clues and "facts" that will lead him to the conclusion later on that Teddy is his wife's killer and the man he has been looking for all this time. He takes down Teddy's license plate number and marks it down as a "fact" and writes "Don't believe his lies" on the back of his polaroid. We realize that Leonard would rather live in this perpetual state of hunting for justice than facing the fact that he has already accomplished it and - possibly - face the realities of what he has done. Maybe he also doesn't want to live a life like Sammy Jankis, without purpose.

I have read up on so many different theories and questions that still plague viewers. Was there ever really a Sammy Jankis? Why did Leonard put on Jimmy's suit? Was Teddy telling the truth about Leonard's wife being the one with diabetes? Was all this just a way for Leonard to cope with the fact that he killed his wife? Had Leonard escaped from an insane asylum? Where did the name John/Jimmy G. even originate? Was Leonard's condition mental or physical? Was his wife still alive?

The joy is, I don't think we will ever know for sure. 




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R, 1 hr. 56 min.
Mystery & Suspense, Drama
Synopsis: A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.  

Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Written By: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan 
In Theaters: Sep 5, 2000 Wide 
On DVD: Sep 4, 2001 
Box Office:$23.8M
Newmarket Films