Choke

Introduction

Victor Mancini is a 'historical interpreter', working in a colonial era tourist attraction where he has frequent run-ins with the manager, Lord High Charlie. When not in costume, Victor pretends to choke in expensive restaurants and then exploits his saviours for money which he uses to pay for his mother's medical bills. He's also a sex addict, attending a support group, and can only gain satisfaction with meaningless sex. His best friend and fellow employee, Denny, goes to the same groups, as he is a chronic masturbator, barely able to form a fist.

His mother, Ida, has a strange form of dementia and only acknowledges him as one of a group of dead lawyers from her past and won't eat even her favourite Italian food that Vincent loyally brings and tries to feed her. Having never known his father's identity, he is desperate to unearth the truth before her mind completely goes.

When he meets a new doctor at the hospital, he can't think of anything he wants more than to screw her - a sentiment she embraces as she believes that sexual congress and experimental stem cell research may provide the answer to his parentage - but as he's familiar with her, he can't perform. Their relationship gets more complicated when she finds out from his mother's diaries that Vincent may be the half-clone of Jesus!

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk, Choke explores dark and weird territory, including jokes about rape and dementia and was written and directed by Clark Gregg.

Video

A very nice clear picture with good colours and contrast; the work done on Anjelica Huston to make her older and younger, is excellent. The attention paid to costumes and other elements of mise-en-scène in the flashback sequences is creditable.

Audio

A well scored and sharp soundtrack with a good selection of source music. The dialogue is clear, but there are subtitles should you need them.

Extra Features

The commentary with Sam Rockwell and Clark Gregg is lively and funny, with some nuggets of information - it's worth a listen.

The five Deleted/Extended Scenes show that quite a lot was cut out and that the ending was changed, with a gag reel containing the usual assortment of bloopers.

There is a revealing and very interesting conversation with Clark Gregg and Chuck Palahniuk where they talk about the book and the process of adapting it for the screen; Palahniuk seems very happy with what Gregg did with his novel, despite the sizeable changes.

There is a brief making of under the title Hello, My Name is Victor and I'm a Sex Addict and there's an exploration of Ida's character in A Mother's Love. Also included is a short Q&A from the L.A. Film Festival and a puff piece about the casting from Fox Movie Channel.

Conclusion

As a big fan of Fight Club and Chuck Palahniuk's work, I was looking forward to this and wasn't disappointed. It keeps the dark undercurrent with black humour of the book and is recognisably his, despite being adapted by Director/Writer/Editor/Actor Clark Gregg. The themes of support groups and a male crisis follow on from Fight Club, along with the use of narration and edgy comedy.

The acting is solid, with a very good cast, led by Sam Rockwell and Kelly MacDonald, who again proves she can do a convincing American accent. In support, Anjelica Huston does a great job as Victor's mother, Brad William Henke (a relative newcomer) impresses and even Gregg shows his acting chops in a small role.

Gregg is clearly a talented guy, with a fine screenplay and assured direction and while Choke will never be as widely feted as Fight Club, it is a funny, moving and engaging watch. Fans of Fight Club and Palahniuk's novel should definitely check it out.