Choke

Prediction

Rotten:( (learn more)

Festival Year

2008 (click here to see all competition films from this year)

Category

Dramatic Competition

Cast

Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly McDonald, Brad Henke, Clark Gregg

Non-Cast Credits

Clark Gregg, Chuck Palahniuk, Mike Ryan. Derrick Tseng, Gary Ventimiglia, Mary Vernieu, Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson, Johnathan Dorfman, Temple Fennell, Tim Orr, Joe Klotz, Roshelle Berliner, Catherine George

Description

Actor-turned-director Clark Gregg shows he is as adept behind the camera as in front of it with Choke, a wickedly colorful dark comedy about mothers and sons, sexual compulsion, and the sordid underbelly of Colonial theme parks.

Victor Mancini, a sex-addicted med-school dropout, keeps his increasingly deranged mother, Ida, in an expensive private mental hospital by working days as a historical reenactor. At night he runs a scam where he deliberately chokes in upscale restaurants to form parasitic relationships with the wealthy patrons who "save" him. When, in a rare lucid moment, Ida reveals that she has withheld the shocking truth of his father's identity, Victor must enlist the aid of his best friend, Denny, a recovering chronic masturbator, and his mother's beautiful attending physician, Dr. Paige Marshall, to solve this mystery before the truth of his possibly divine parentage is lost forever.

Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Chuck Palahniuk, Choke tickles the funny bone as it dives into darker areas of human behavior. At the heart of the film is yet another staggering performance by Sam Rockwell as Victor. He fully inhabits the character and nails both the comedic and dramatic aspects with indelible timing and delivery. A delicious blend of fresh writing, juicy performances, and sharp directing, Choke is actually quite easy to swallow.

Reviewer

Trevor Groth (see other films reviewed by the same reviewer)

Film Takes Pace.