2. "I Want You To Hit Me As Hard As You Can" - Fight Club
It makes sense that David Fincher's mischievous film was spearheaded by a very mischievous director, given the lengths he went to enhance the weird, hilarious, violent vibe the film gave out. The scene in which Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) asks Jack (Edward Norton) to hit him as hard as he can was scripted as Jack merely punching Tyler in the face, but at the last minute, Fincher whispered to Norton to actually punch Pitt in the ear, thinking it would be a hilarious, quirky take on what audiences were expecting. Norton was hesitant but went along with it, and Pitt's resulting response - craning his neck around and shouting, "You hit me in the ear?" - is, again, totally genuine. That Pitt managed to keep his cool long enough for a complete, useable take is a testament to his professionalism and/or immediate understanding of what just happened. Fincher took what could have been a totally serious moment and managed to improve it by injecting some literally stinging humour.