Choke

Whoever led the marketing campaign for Choke needs to be reassigned to movies like The Women and Best Friend’s Girl, in order to keep people from going to those disasters. I hadn’t even heard of Choke until I saw a terrible online link for the movie, then several short clips sprinkled throughout It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. These were not funny clips, and in no way promoted the movie in what, in some circles, people might call an “attractive” way. In fact, if Poptimal hadn’t asked that I review it, even the promise of Sam Rockwell wouldn’t have gotten me to the theater.

But there I was, surprised I wasn’t alone and that other people had even heard of the movie, and I found I actually enjoyed myself. Way to go, Marketing Guys at Fox Searchlight! Hint: People should arrive already thinking they’re going to like your film.

Choke, based on the novel by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk, is the story of Victor Mancini: sex addict, historical re-enactor, doting son, choker. In order to fund his mother’s mental hospital bills, he works in a Colonial Williamsburg-like attraction by day, and fakes choking spells by night, to form parasitic relationships with the innocent bystanders who come to his rescue. Within this framework, we watch Victor’s life unfold as his best friend overcomes his own addiction, his mother’s mental health further deteriorates, and his own parentage is questioned. All of the faults he’s accepted in himself are suddenly in doubt, and he must learn if there might be something better about him, after all.

Unlike the marketing geniuses over at Fox Searchlight, I will not mislead you about this film. It’s entertaining, but not perfect. Some of the jokes are predictable and trite, some of the production values show its low budget roots.

But leave it to Sam Rockwell to lift a script and story that could easily fall into creepy and uncomfortable territory, to something human and “relatable.” Rockwell delivers an entertaining and layered performance, sarcastic and unapologetic as Victor. But we’re also able to find identifiable characteristics in someone who is so radically different from most of us (well, at least for me. I assume the majority of you aren’t sex addicts or deliberate chokers, but what do I know? I mean, I’m not a Fox Searchlight marketer, for Pete’s sake). Brad William Henke as best friend Denny has a few nice moments, but mostly he comes off as a poor man’s Seth Rogen. Kelly Macdonald as Victor’s mother’s doctor disappointed greatly, especially after a well-acted turn in No Country for Old Men. However, as Victor’s mother, Anjelica Huston, per usual, captured and held the viewer’s attention every moment she was on the screen. Scenes between her and Rockwell were too few and too short.

And who doesn’t love poking fun at historical re-enactors?

The “sexual romp” as promised by the marketers and emphasized by the television promos had it’s moments, but at heart, Choke is not about a guy who has a lot of sex. Sure, boobs and fellatio grabbed the audience’s attention, shocked us and made us laugh (despite what the television promos show us, this was actually a funny movie). But the sex here, as much as the choking episodes, also shows Victor’s struggle to find normality and a sense of peace in his unusual, difficult life. Both entertaining and introspective, the light fare of the hook avoids being too heavy in its lessons and drama. While it could have played up the personal struggles of all of its characters and been a little richer in depth, Choke does what it sets out to do: stir up your heartstrings a bit, make you think a little more, and entertain you a lot. Marketers be damned.