Book/Movie Comparison: A Fighting Chance

For my next book to movie comparison I went with Fight Club after my friend Sarah mentioned it to me. Fight Club was written by Chuck Palahniuk and later turned in to a movie and directed by the great David Fincher. I have seen the movie numerous times over the years but this was my first time checking out the book.

Chuck Palahniuk did a great job writing a book about two different people and how their lives intertwine. After their paths first cross on an airplane they soon become almost inseparable in their day to day lives. Wait, I think that’s what happened. This book does a great job throwing you for a loop or what is real and isn’t real. The narrator’s insomnia is something I can relate with to a point, I have bouts of insomnia but nothing that extreme. I really liked the details that Palahniuk went in to setting the perfume bottle scene.

David Fincher is a great director and except for maybe Alien 3 he hasn’t totally messed up yet. He took a great book and made a really solid film. The supporting characters were pretty spot on from their descriptions. The movie flowed really well and the “Cigarette Burns” sprinkled throughout were a nice touch. Ed Norton and Brad Pitt were phenomenal in bringing the Narrator and Tyler Durden to life.

The book and movie are very similar and of the three book/movie comparisons I have done this year it is also the most accurate. The main problem I have with the movie though is how fast the ending came about. In the book the narrator’s breakdown was a bit more drawn out and more clues about who Tyler Durden really was were included.. The very end of the book was not adapted for the movie and I wish it was. The movie also skipped over some of Tyler’s unethical work activities. Both the book and movie had good scenes involving the Narrator and Marla which I wish were included in both versions. Though I have some problems with the movie in comparison to the book they are truly just minor in the grand scheme of things. I would highly recommend people to check out both the book and movie.