ChokeWhy is it that love take so many forms, yet can be so hard to actually find? Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) is a med-school dropout, busting his butt as a bottom rung min-wage slave in a colonial reenactment ghetto for rejected drama majors, scraping by to pay for his mom's mental health care at an upscale nursing home primarily for dumped grannies. And, oh yeah, Victor's a sex addict, substituting meaningless screwing with strangers for a meaningful relationship. Even more, Victor scams wealthy patrons at restaurants by choking on food, necessitating them to save his life...which in turn he exploits to get money out of them and feel loved by their rescue. Yep, Victor's got a few issues piled up.
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Adapted from the sharp, sardonic, and darkly comic novel by Chuck Palahnuik, Choke is somewhat lighter fare than some of the transgressive author's other works, but that does not mean that it is any less raw and invigorating--the novel is actually my favorite of his works. The adaptation, written for the screen and directed by Clark Gregg (who also plays the method Mussolini, "Lord High Charlie"), hones in the the humor and makes the raunchy and racy subject matter constantly funny, but also into a meaningful tale of Victor, a man-child who cannot connect with his mother, Ida Mancini (the perfectly cast Anjelica Huston), not only because he still cannot really understand her and her bizarre crusades when he was a child, but because she is suffering from dementia, and mistakes him for a series of dead lawyers, to whom she badmouths her son. Victor seeks the aid of Dr. Paige Marshall (Kelly MacDonald) to help cure his mother, while also trying to seduce her in keeping with his compulsion. Paige attempts to work with Victor, albeit through rather unorthodox means, sparking one revelation after another with Victor, like his psychological fixation with confusing affection and sex. When Paige offers to translate his mother's Italian diary, she informs him that the diary claims that he is a "half-clone" of Jesus Christ, which sets off another mental panic in Victor, since he is a career scam artist and has serious self-esteem issues, primarily about not being loved. Victor spends a good deal of time trying to refute this image of a messiah to the grannies, and spirals deeper into his addiction as a result.
Clark Gregg has achieved an exception effect with Choke--just as Chuck Palahnuik had with the novel--in portraying a character who is a "scumbag", who is "depraved", who does not love himself and cannot remember how to love, but still make him someone pitiable and enjoyable, slimy and sympathetic, deftly portrayed by Sam Rockwell, who walks that line like a tightrope. Victor spends most of the movie fighting having to start his "Fourth Step", a part of the Twelve Step program for addicts, with the Fourth Step designed to have the addict take a moral inventory, and give a fearless account of it. This is not easy for Victor, not because he isn't aware of his transgressions, but because as he asserts to his friend Denny (Brad William Henke) that he doesn't believe he has suffered enough. A lot of this attitude plays into the "Christ-like" stigma he becomes aware of through Paige, something he refutes for the same reason--he does not love himself. When Denny starts dating a stripper named Beth (Gillian Jacobs)--who goes by "Cherry Daiquiri" at first--and Victor asks her about what she thinks of Jesus' early days--if he had a rough start before adopting the whole "savior" thing--she replies by referring Victor to some of the apostle Paul's letters to Galatians, describing his idea that one is transformed not by being loved, but by loving others. It's an important lesson for Victor, who has been struggling to feel like he is loved through sex and choking, and not finding it in either place. Victor's med-school dissolution comes up often, and in his past education, he also forms a meaningful bond founded on mutual respect and shared interests with Paige. In a way, Choke is a black romantic comedy, something where we want the guy and girl to get together, but we wanna see some twisted, funny stuff along the way, which we do...poodle.
Recommended for: Fans of a wicked and raunchy comedy, filled with off-kilter morals and whip-smart writing to match clever casting and a talented principle cast who breathe life into these fascinating, damaged souls.
Clark Gregg has achieved an exception effect with Choke--just as Chuck Palahnuik had with the novel--in portraying a character who is a "scumbag", who is "depraved", who does not love himself and cannot remember how to love, but still make him someone pitiable and enjoyable, slimy and sympathetic, deftly portrayed by Sam Rockwell, who walks that line like a tightrope. Victor spends most of the movie fighting having to start his "Fourth Step", a part of the Twelve Step program for addicts, with the Fourth Step designed to have the addict take a moral inventory, and give a fearless account of it. This is not easy for Victor, not because he isn't aware of his transgressions, but because as he asserts to his friend Denny (Brad William Henke) that he doesn't believe he has suffered enough. A lot of this attitude plays into the "Christ-like" stigma he becomes aware of through Paige, something he refutes for the same reason--he does not love himself. When Denny starts dating a stripper named Beth (Gillian Jacobs)--who goes by "Cherry Daiquiri" at first--and Victor asks her about what she thinks of Jesus' early days--if he had a rough start before adopting the whole "savior" thing--she replies by referring Victor to some of the apostle Paul's letters to Galatians, describing his idea that one is transformed not by being loved, but by loving others. It's an important lesson for Victor, who has been struggling to feel like he is loved through sex and choking, and not finding it in either place. Victor's med-school dissolution comes up often, and in his past education, he also forms a meaningful bond founded on mutual respect and shared interests with Paige. In a way, Choke is a black romantic comedy, something where we want the guy and girl to get together, but we wanna see some twisted, funny stuff along the way, which we do...poodle.
Recommended for: Fans of a wicked and raunchy comedy, filled with off-kilter morals and whip-smart writing to match clever casting and a talented principle cast who breathe life into these fascinating, damaged souls.