luckiest_strike maybe i was expecting to much. although, i doubt it. i was worrying that the book wouldn't make a very good film, but knowing fight club, i still had high hopes.then when the movie finally came out, it left me immensely disappointed. in only ~90 minutes they tried to cover a book so complex and funny and it resulted in a mediocre dark comedy, that only people who didn't read the book will be able to enjoy.if you read the book, you will always be disappointed. it is nowhere near as entertaining and gripping. DON'T WATCH THIS! if you have not read the book, do it. and also DO NOT WATCH THIS! if you have not read the book and can't be bothered to, just step away from this altogether and wait for another of chuck's books to be made into a film instead. yet again: DO NOT WATCH THIS!

brando647 When you combine one of my favorite actors (Sam Rockwell) and an adaptation of a novel from the man who wrote FIGHT CLUB, I expect great things. The premise is sound and promises the same great dark humor and slick writing, and the studio probably expected it to be as big a cult favorite as Fincher's film. But it wasn't and I'm not really surprised. Whereas FIGHT CLUB was a sharp ode to chaos, CHOKE never rises to be anything near as interesting. Based on another novel from writer Chuck Palahniuk, it follows sex addict Victor Mancini (Rockwell) who works full-time in a colonial recreation when he's not visiting his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother in a nursing home. To pay for the cost of her care, Victor likes to take advantage of the kindness of strangers when he pretends to choke in restaurants and milks money from his wealthy "saviors". Victor makes the best of his bad situation but what he really wants is to learn the truth about his father. As a child, Victor bounced from foster family to foster family, and each time his mother would swoop him and steal him away. Victor's never known normal life and all he wants before his mother dies or loses the last remaining piece of her mind is to find out who his real father is. A new doctor in his mother's facility may have found a way to restore his mom's mental health, and all it requires is for Vincent to do what he does best.I wish this movie was better. It's not a bad movie. It's funny and the cast does a great job. I just become annoyed with the fact that the story wanders its way through it's meager 92 minute running time. It never feels like the movie's trying to move you along a narrative path with a focused finish. It just bounces between Vincent's search for the truth about his father/his business with Paige (the doctor who informs Vincent of the experimental procedure for his mother) and Vincent's descent further into his sexual addiction while his buddy Denny progresses through his S.A. and improves his life. By the end of the movie, you expect a bigger finish as Vincent begins to overcome his addiction and learns about his father. Instead, the end just sort of happens. Sure, the plot is wrapped up for the sake of the movie but it doesn't really feel like it accomplished anything. What breakthroughs there are in Vincent's story are almost breezed through. I haven't read the novel, but I'm considering checking it out because all the ingredients are here for an awesome dark comedy/drama but I feel like the filmmakers gave us the Cliff Notes version. Maybe I just expected too much because the last Palahniuk hit had David Fincher behind the camera. Here, we get Clark Gregg (most famous as Agent Coulson in the Marvel movies). Not that there's anything wrong with that, necessarily. It's Gregg's first and only directing gig, and he did a decent job for what it's worth.I've already mentioned Sam Rockwell as one of my favorite actors (here and elsewhere). He guarantees an awesome job, even in the most minor of roles. So it's always cool when he's given the main role in a movie (e.g. CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, MOON). He's great as Vincent, equal parts cynical jerk and desperate man. The respected Anjelica Huston is Vincent's mother Ida and she can be pretty fun in the flashback sequences to Vincent's childhood. There's a good blend in the supporting cast with the highlight being Brad William Henke as Vincent's friend Denny. Very Seth Rogen-ish, he earns some laughs. And there's plenty of laughs to be had here. I loved Vincent's dealings with the mentally unstable residents of his mom's nursing facility. Kelly Macdonald is pretty amusing as the no-nonsense Paige, playing her just off-kilter enough to know there's something off about her but seeming confident enough to maybe believe the extreme scenario she brings to Vincent. There's a lot in this movie that almost works but doesn't feel fleshed out enough. In my opinion, we spent too much time hanging out at the colonial recreation where Vincent and Denny work. If you're condensing a novel to fit a movie, trim that stuff that isn't as necessary to the story to keep it moving. And watching Vincent lust over a milkmaid (Bijou Phillips) and bicker with his over-bearing boss (director Gregg) didn't really do much except give Gregg extra screen time. Or maybe it's just me.

oneguyrambling Choke is the ultimate "tweeny" film – too cute to be truly edgy and too edgy to be merely cute. This leaves it in the uncomfortable middle ground of not having either a core die-hard audience or mainstream appeal.But I'm not here to market the thing, I only want to give my opinion. Well it's interesting at times but I didn't actually think it was really that deserving a film. That might be more a reason for its lack of box-office than their prudish attitude to sex, after all flash some celeb tit or show liberal amounts of nubile teenage skin and you've got a hit on your hands.Sam Rockwell plays Victor – a sex-addict whose life is consumed with fantasy, physical contact and basically release, though he is never satisfied and is in fact afraid of true intimacy. His best friend is Danny and he suffers from the same affliction, they both work in theme park portraying US pioneer times, constantly looking for targets and boldly seeking encounters – however brief.Therefore we are then subject to numerous cutaways and flashbacks showing various encounters in true Rob Schneider fashion – albeit with less "hilarious" disabilities and in a far better (though still average) film. If we believe these inserts (pardon the expression) Victor gets more tail than a rock star and flips over more chicks than Alfie in a standard week.Victor and Denny both lament their affliction yet are ruled by its power. There is in fact a group session available featuring several others sharing their predicament but the allure of the flesh seems stronger than the desire for a cure and they rarely attend.But that doesn't seem to be the main point of the movie, although to be honest I don't really know what is… Victor also regularly feigns near-death experiences – hence the title – and maximises on the newly faked formed bond by cadging off his carefully chosen benefactor on an ongoing basis to supplement his meagre income.Victor's Mother is in a nursing home in need of special care. As she raised Victor from infancy – he never knew who his real Dad was – he has an ever greater than normal bond with his Mum and visits her regularly (though again he seems to have tried it on – and often succeeded – with most nurses in the hospital). The problem is that the facility is not for Aged care but for mental health issues, and it seems his Mum has always had serious issues in the upstairs department.In fact when Victor visits his own Mother doesn't even recognise her son, so he adopts a variety of personas including lawyers and Victor's friends in attempts to get through to her to spark frank discussions about his childhood and past.On one such unsuccessful visit Victor is told by a woman named Paige that Mum is destined to move into another floor, one with more dedicated and intensive care – a bad sign – and he resists, though he does do his darndest to slide his Way into Paige's Doctor's outfit, his attempts rejected… initially.The remainder of the film deals with Victor's conflicting goals: he starts a torrid affair with Paige that quickly loses momentum when his "desire" is waylaid, while simultaneously striving to get through to his Mum and uncover more about his past.Rockwell finally lands a lead and does his best to maintain our er… interest in an increasingly convoluted plot. I continually thought of him as more likable (as a character not a love interest) guy than a conflicted man rent asunder by desperation and addiction. Angelica Huston plays Mum as a loving but manipulative, selfish and deceitful woman, and Kelly MacDonald is convincing as a woman that Victor… might like to have sex with??? The film suffers from trying to inject too many damn ideas into the fray, many of them are never actually seen through to any satisfying conclusion which creates an element of dissatisfaction. The main example of this is the Choking thing which supplies the film with little more than a title.One vice I understand, another unnecessary quirk is a tougher act to swallow… in fact one might say this film Chokes on it… just a little at least.This is a film that falls victim to its source material, while a novel might have hundreds of page with which to introduce and follow through with ideas, a movie has but 90 odd (in this case) minutes to do the same. A little more judicious exorcising of some extraneous elements might have helped here… Or they could have just bought in more nubile young teens and asked them to flash the jubblies, that works too.Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. A film that doesn't know what it wants to do or what it wants to say.

h_wilson92 First this movie is not for the faint of heart.I decided to hire this movie because I like the movies that are based on books written by Chuck Palahniuk.Another reason I saw this movie was because I like Sam Rockwell and his movies.I was really impressed with this movie - It was disturbing,funny and also dark.I thought it could have been better if it was over 2 hours long but it was still quite good.This is definitely not a movie to go to for first dates,family viewing or for elderly people.If you are interested in the theme of sex addiction and what goes on behind the scenes of treating it then i would recommend this movie to you.8/10 is my rating