Edward Norton stars in this film, where he is billed only as The Narrator. We don't actually ever get to hear his name, which is interesting, but strangely, you don't find yourself missing out on that fact (or at least, I didn't).
When we meet him, he is simply a body in motion, moving through airports, living a life that most of us can associate with, finding some measure of satisfaction through filling out his apartment with items in the IKEA catalog, slowly making where he lives into a reflection of what you see on each page.
And then on one of these trips, he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). That's when everything changes.
In the time BT (Before Tyler), The Narrator had been meandering through life, trying to give his life some meaning. In an attempt to overcome his inability to sleep, he had been joining up with every group he could find and becoming someone else for the nights that the group met. On one night he might be the survivor of testicular cancer, on another he may have been battling brain parasites, and so on.
This behavior strangely gave him the ability to let go, which in turn gave him the release he needed, which allowed him to sleep at night. Until he met Marla (Helena Bonham Carter). It seems that Marla had the same idea in mind, and The Narrator took it personally that she was intruding on his territory - most notably in places such as the survivors of testicular cancer, where she really had no business being. So they agreed to split up the meetings.
But after meeting Tyler, a new sort of group emerged. When talking with Tyler, they decided that instead of talking about their problems, they would fight instead. Not fight to hurt one another, but fight just to get out their feelings, and feel like men again. And that is how it started. Gradually, the first group formed, and before long, rules were needed.
The first rule was that you didn't talk about fight club. The second rule was that you didn't talk about fight club. But still, people came. The phenomenon grew. It spread like wildfire. Even people normally at the support group meetings started showing up with bruises on their faces, and suddenly it seemed that Tyler was growing out of control. The Narrator had lost his place in the world again, and it was no longer the baby that he had created, for Tyler had taken it over.
About that time, things at work got a little more interesting, because Tyler had given homework for the first time. Everyone was supposed to start a fight before the next meeting. This isn't as easy as it sounds, because most people don't want to start a fight. They will, in fact, do just about anything to avoid it. So our intrepid hero takes it to his boss and ends up getting a year's worth of pay, some computer equipment and some airline coupons. Fight Club now has corporate sponsorship, and it really starts to grow.
Tyler still isn't satisfied, and this is where things start to get a little out of hand. The recruits show up at the house on Paper Street for Project Mayhem. No one knows what it is, exactly, because you aren't supposed to talk about it (see rule 1). But all over town, and all over the country, mischief breaks out, and as that dies down, even more escalates. Eventually, The Narrator realizes that he has lost total and utter control, and now Project Mayhem is about to destroy several large buildings in an attempt to bring down the financial marketplace.
This is where the film really shines, as it becomes apparent that everything is not quite as it seems. In fact, if you now take the time and go back and watch the movie up to this point, you will see things that you've missed. I guarantee it. It's quite incredible. Scenes like Tyler going through the airport in the very beginning (this is just a small example). Just little tidbits that you don't really notice the first time through, but that make all sorts of sense on the second or third viewing.
And then... it's all over. Actually, the climax is a bit anti-climactic in comparison to the rest. The end probably should have happened a few minutes earlier, as it was almost a let-down. The revealing is the best part. Still, it's a great movie, and I'm not going to give it up here. You'll have to see it for yourself.
Rated R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language.
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