A dazzling entertainment that wants us to luxuriate in violence as we condemn it; a brilliant solution to depicting the divided self as a protagonist; and proof that Brad Pitt, as well as Edward Norton, can really act.

The disenfranchised modern male has been the subject of several Hollywood films. But few have matched the dramatic punch of Fight Club.

The movie is not merely the best of the week, month or even year, but a singular event, like the opening of 2001 or Pulp Fiction. You know you are seeing something brand new and emotionally powerful even if you don't necessarily know what it means.

Fight Club isn’t powerful enough, or good enough, to be called “prophetic.”