5 Reasons Why I Think Fight Club Will Always Be David Fincher's Best Movie

David Fincher He’s one of our greatest modern directors and I’d put him right up there with Quentin TarantinoCoen brothers and (my personal favorite), Paul Thomas Anderson.

He’s made so many great movies that it’s hard to pick his best. In fact, my colleague Alexandra Ramos concluded: Social Network as it is his personal favorite.

But when it comes to Fincher, it can only be the number one movie for me. I’m sure it was released early in the director’s career. Fight Club (with that twist!) It will always be my favorite David Fincher movie and here’s why.

Jared Leto in Fight Club — (Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

Believe it or not, but Fight Club It appeared 25 years ago. This is true. It is part of a very special club of movies released in 1999. Matrix, Sixth senseAnd The Talented Mr. Ripley (I wish someone had told me this how good was it all those years ago).

But none of the films mentioned (Also maybe Matrix) really represents the late 90s, early 2000s vibe for me. Nowadays, Fight Club It is seen as an excellent film, an important film. But I remember what a stupid attitude people had towards it back then.

My friends, who were all in high school at the time, watched the movie and completely missed the point. We started a fight club in my friend’s basement and were warning each other not to tell anyone about our new club… only to tell other people about our new club right away.

But can you blame us? Just like in the movie, the idea of masculinity was changing. Calvin Klein ads featured images of men in underwear, and slowly but surely we were leaving the muscular men of the early 90s behind for something much more… urban? Maybe even an introvert?

Although the film actually criticizes this reflexive attitude towards change, none of us really understood it at the time, and I think it encapsulates the zeitgeist better than Fincher’s other films. And I’m talking even more than that Social NetworkThe film is considered Fincher’s most recent film. beginning Facebook.

But considering how much social media has changed since 2010, Social Network Debuting for the first time, I feel like it Fight Club it truly represents a time and place more than Fincher’s other films. It consistently lives in the late 90s for me.

Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in Fight Club

(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

Fincher at His Most Playful, Something You Don’t Often See in His Work

In our list best horror movies of all timeWe put David Fincher’s se7enleaving the horror classics behind at number three jaws, Foreignand even Exorcist. And remember, Se7en is generally classified as a crime thriller, not a horror movie. That’s how dark the movie is!

But Fincher has a tendency to fade into darkness. ZodiacIf it’s to be believed, it’s even darker than that se7enand most of his movies The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Gone Girllean more into the darkness. Of course movies like this Social NetworkAnd Killer He definitely uses elements of humor, but I don’t think Fincher has ever achieved the playful whimsy he does. Fight Club.

Tyler Durden, despite all his anarchist tendencies, is also quite funny. He always has a grin on his face and many people (especially young people like me at the time) interpreted it as cool. As we all know by now, Tyler is merely a reflection of our narrator, but our narrator himself is also pretty funny in a hilarious way.

This seeps into the overall tone of the film, which feels strange even amidst all the darkness. In this way Fight Club It still feels like Fincher’s most accessible film, and in my opinion, it’s also his greatest.

Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in Fight Club

(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

Also Arguably Brad Pitt and Edward Norton’s Best Performances of Their Entire Careers

Speaking of Tyler Durden and our narrator, I don’t think this movie would have been as effective if it wasn’t for him. Brad Pitt And Edward Nortonrespectively.

You must remember. The year was 1999, and Brad Pitt wasn’t the 60-year-old (but still sexy) Oscar winner he is today.

No, he was the exact person who was supposed to be the “ideal man” at the time, with his six-pack abs and super ’90s haircut (As I mentioned before, the movie makes this annoying). Brad Pitt looked very much like the “ideal man” despite Norton’s character. criticized all that sculptural physics– while also shaping his entire personality around it).

And Norton plays the perfect man who turns into a sensual man. His transformation is subtle but effective. Even more than here American HistoryHere he plays a neo-Nazi. Honestly, as a huge fan of both actors, I have to say Fight Club both his best performances and by a wide margin.

Edward Norton in Fight Club

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

It’s One of the Few Adaptations That Is Unquestionably Superior to the Book, and It’s Also Excellent

You know, for a while I read every novel by Chuck Palahniuk (who is also gay).

I stopped Damnbut I was an avid reader for over a decade. Still I guess Fight Club probably my second favorite novel of his (My first existence) Surviving).

However, I think Fincher’s adaptation is one of the few examples. A better movie than the book.

This sarcastic tone is definitely present in the novel, but I think it’s even more exaggerated in the movie. Norton too pitch perfect He’s casting for the lead actor and I think he’s even better in the movie than his character in the book, who feels unnecessarily distant at times. I also really like the progression of events in the movie because I think the pacing is better.

So I feel like the movie version in every way Fight Club It’s better than the book. In fact, this is one of the few examples where I would tell people who don’t have time to read the novel to just watch the movie.

Screenshot of Tyler Durden and his muscles talking to Lou in Fight Club

(Image credit: Disney+)

Became More Respected and Respected Since It Was First Released

Finally, while most of Fincher’s films have a great shelf life, it seems to me Fight Club it became his most respected film.

And I think that’s because, as I said before, it was massively misinterpreted when it first came out. Fight Club It’s a story way ahead of its time, and it took years for people to finally catch on.

I kind of liken it to that. Joker. A lot of people saw Arthur Fleck as a cool guy, I don’t think that was the director’s intention. Actually I think Todd Phillips He was a little disturbed by this reaction, which was probably why he acted so harshly afterwards, Joker: Folie a Deux.

Now, I personally don’t believe Folie a Deux It will be reevaluated as a masterpiece ten years later, but Fight Club It has certainly been elevated to that status, and rightly so!

That’s the list, my soap enthusiast friends. Be sure to check back here for more news on all things David Fincher.

It Truly Represents a Time and Place Better Than His Other Films. Yes, It’s Much More Than a Social Network

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