Fight Club

TYLER
You were looking for a way to change your life. You could not do this
on your own. All the ways you wished you could be…that’s me! I look
like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I’m smart, capable
and most importantly, I’m free in all the ways that you are not.

JACK
No…

FLASHBACK – EXT. PAPER ST. HOUSE – BACKYARD – NIGHT

Jack stands in the yard, vodka in hand, yells at Marla.

JACK
Tyler’s not here. Tyler’s went away. Tyler’s gone.

MARLA
What?

INT. HOTEL – RESUMING

JACK
This is impossible. This is crazy.

TYLER
People do it every day. They talk to themselves. They see themselves
as they like to be. They don’t have the courage you have, to just run
with it.

(excerpt via Hackvan.com)

Ten years later, this movie still works for me as thought-provoking, gut punch entertainment. Older and theoretically “wiser” now, it pushes different buttons (we have less IKEA furniture, among other things), but pretty much to similar effect as in 1999 when it was a mini-revelation.

The above exchange remains a poignant reminder, and in light of recent economic events, you have to wonder “If only…!” about the wistful ending.

PS: I think I now remember where the random obsession with William Shatner came from during this time.