Fincher Countdown Part 3 - Fight Club

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's latest limited series: the Fincher Countdown. Each week in the lead up to David Fincher's latest film, Mank, the two Scotts and countdown special guest, Jay Habib, will be working their way through most* of David Fincher's filmography in chronological order, starting from his non-franchise debut, the neo-noir psychological detective thriller, SEVEN, leading all the way to 2014's GONE GIRL. Join us each week as we talk about a different Fincher film!

 

On Part 3 of the countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay take a look back at the film in David Fincher's catalog that has truly achieved "cult" status: his 1999 twisty psychological thriller, FIGHT CLUB. Best known for its infamous first rule and its archetypal toxic male, Tyler Durden, FIGHT CLUB stars Edward Norton as the unnamed insomniac narrator, who, after becoming disillusioned with the emasculating materialistic consumerism of his existence starts an underground fight club for men to get in touch with their emotions by beating each other to a pulp. Norton's narrator does this alongside Brad Pitt's Durden, a soap salesman who he meets on a business trip and who he makes fast friends with. It doesn't take long for Durden to show his true colors as a social anarchist, whose ambitions grow, forming a cult-like following of men to join a movement called Project Mayhem, a movement that is set on doing just what its title describes. All the while, Norton's narrator has to contend with his complicated relationship with Helena Bonham Carter's Marla, as well as his deteriorating psychological state. The countdown trio give their thoughts on the performances, this film's role in an ongoing conversation about toxic masculinity, and whether it's worthy of its now-cult status in the world of pop culture.