Review: ‘Choke’ LAFF 08

Based on cult author Chuck Palahniuk’s 2001 novel, Choke has been a long time coming. A literal 7 year process for actor-turned-writer/director Clark Gregg in getting the film made, added to huge fan expectations for an author whose work has not been adapted to the screen in 9 years, the project has a lot to live up to from the get-go. Now add to that the inherent difficulty of successfully transitioning Choke’s difficult subject matter without losing any of its edge or spirit, a work tackling everything from sexual addiction to Jesus Christ. So, needless to say my expectations were tempered, my hopes for the film riding squarely on an unproven director’s vision. It’s a relief to be able to say that Gregg has done the spirit of the novel justice and that Choke’s adaptation is pretty much as audacious, intelligently subversive and daring as its source material.

Following the struggling 12 step program of medical school dropout Victor Mancini, Choke follows Victor’s attempts to pay for his aging mother’s medical bills while fighting his issues with addiction. It doesn’t help that Victor is mentally undressing everyone around him, be it at the hospital, his job at a Colonial Reenactment Village, or at the many, many restaurants where he finds his second form of income. Victor Mancini is a professional choker, heading off to pricey restaurants around town to offer diners the chance to be a hero for a night by rescuing him from suffocating on whatever bit of food he’s just sucked into his airway. They reward him with cards and letters full of money, eager to stretch that hero moment just a little longer. To say that this is just the beginning of the places the film travels is an understatement, from Victor’s equally addicted friend Denny who counts each day of sobriety by bringing home a large rock on the bus, to Dr. Paige Marshall who tends Victor’s mother and has a less than orthodox plan of treatment to save her, and so on. The performances here are so vital to the film’s success, and Sam Rockwell leads the charge, reliably infusing Victor with the proper humanity and allowing him to rise above the sum of his disparate parts. Brad Henke contributes solidly, his onscreen relationship with Rockwell particularly fun, and Kelly MacDonald offers a measured vulnerability to her role that’s sexier than anything else in this film.

Clark Gregg, who you may recognize from a recent role in Iron Man, clearly has respect for what’s at stake here. While sometimes flirting with self-satisfaction about the material he does offer restraint when necessary and hones in on Rockwell’s emotional cues at just the right times. The flashback scenes with Anjelica Houston are great, but not quite as integrated as they could be, although they do accent the film’s dream-like narrative flow. It’s the age old question of adaptations, how close to the source is too close? Gregg has followed Palahniuk’s advice of doing his own thing while still getting in the moments that are demanded the most. The ending is a little abrupt, due in some part, like other moments in the film, to the issues of low budget film-making. However, the film is generally as imperfect as its characters, and at the end of the day it succeeds as the sum of its parts. I’m glad my doubts were unfounded and I encourage you, as a mature adult capable of handling adult content, to explore for yourself. There is much within that is certainly not appropriate for the wrong audiences (if the words “hilarious” and “staged rape” grouped in the same sentence horrify you, be forewarned), but there is a sweet sentimentality at its core, and unwilling savior Victor Mancini’s slow road to honesty and forgiveness is more tender than its premise might suggest.

[rating: 4/5]