CHOKE
Written & Directed by Clark Gregg, based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk
Produced by Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson, Johnathan Dorfman & Temple Fennell
Released by Fox Searchlight
USA. 92 min. Rated R
With Sam Rockwell, Angelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald, Brad William Henke, Jonah Bobo, Gillian Jacobs, Bijou Phillips & Joel Grey
 

Victor (Sam Rockwell) has a problem—actually, more than a few. He's a sex addict, and attends meetings where he doesn't really bother to pay attention (rather, he just has sex in the bathroom with other wayward members). He also has a mother (Angelica Huston) who has lost her marbles and is in a home, where he somehow can't “do the deed” with the kindly young Doctor Paige Marshall (Kelly Macdonald)—he may actually care for her. And he has a best friend/co-worker at a 18th-century colonial theme park, Denny (Brad William Henke), drifting away from him for a relationship with a stripper, Cherry Daquiri (as she says, "It's not my real name"). So we follow this hapless, sarcastic sex-fiend, often pretending to choke at restaurants to get sympathy/sex/possible charitable contributions from those who save him.

A comparison will be obvious. Until Choke, the debut feature of actor Clark Gregg, Fight Club was the only other feature film adaptation from a work by sensationalist author Chuck Palahniuk, who often writes about a) people going to meetings and other rehab places to indulge in chronic dissatisfaction and/or sex and violence; b) totally crazy and/or cynical folk who feel a reluctance to have much to do with the rest of society and rebel through self-indulgence or anarchy or just madness; and c) perverts and psychopaths' inner jaded psychologies.

Choke, though, is nowhere near as ambitious or stylistically daring as David Fincher's vision. But then again, director Clark Gregg doesn't always need to be audacious in this twisted character study; for him, subliminal edits involving a sex addict's visions of random hot sex with any woman he sees (even an old nun at one point) is just enough to be daring as a filmmaker. He is guided by the screenplay which, in 92 minutes, doesn't feel compromised from its original source. Fans won't be disappointed.

Then again, neither should non-fans. This is a hilarious movie for just about anyone who isn't afraid to be offended or put off by the less-than-charming demeanor of its protagonist/narrator. Part of the hilarity is thanks to the vulnerable Rockwell, delivering the goods in one of his (sadly) rare leading man roles. Likewise Huston gives one of her best performances in years as the less-than-cognizant mother whose character is only lucid just enough to keep the conversation going, but who reveals moments of heartbreak through her eyes. Other supporting actors like Macdonald and Henke are also very good, though slightly overshadowed by their leading counterparts.

As a debut director, Gregg hits all of his intended comedic marks, making Choke a contender as another possible cult favorite, if not as colossal as the Brad Pitt/Edward Norton collaboration. On its own terms, it's a weird winner. Jack Gattanella
September 26, 2008