THE POPCORN REEL FILM REVIEW/"Choke"
Hi, My Name Is Victor, And I'm A Sex Addict. Hi Victor.
Gillian Jacobs, Sam Rockwell as Victor
(drinking) and Brad William Henke as Denny in "Choke", which opened today.
Clark Gregg directed the film. (Photo: Fox Searchlight)
By
Omar P.L. Moore/September 26, 2008
In Clark Gregg's cheerfully incorrect film
"Choke", the laughs are all on Victor, a man struggling to find his mother and
learn the truth about his father's origins. He has a sex problem -- he
can't stop having it -- not necessarily a problem, one might argue but an
addiction that camouflages his inability to love. Sam Rockwell plays
Victor, who works at a Colonial restoration house to finance the stay of his
mother Ida (Angelica Huston) at an expensive nursing home. Victor's best
friend Denny, (Brad William Henke) a compulsive masturbator, is looking for more
than just self-love. Together they form the ingredients of an alternately
bright and bleak story adapted to the big screen by Mr. Gregg, from Chuck
Palahniuk's novel. Mr. Palahniuk also wrote the novel and screenplay for
"Fight Club" and he is again great at cultivating good dialogue here, especially
of the male-bonding kind.
"Choke", which opened in select U.S. and Canadian cities today, refers not to
vigorously throttling one's genitalia but to the search for love and belonging
on the part of Victor, who stages asphyxiations at restaurants. The film
is cheeky, charming and infectious in a Monty Python kind of way and sometimes
offensively adult rather than purely adulterated. There's one scene that
will not be viewed in a pleasant light, and "Choke" includes it as a brutal bit
of role-playing which will raise awkward laughter in some and downright
discomfort in others. Indeed, uneasiness and wicked hysteria are key
components of Mr. Gregg's film and the scene in question is consistent with the
kind of blunt adult humor which defines the film inside and out.
Mr. Rockwell excels at playing a smart man trapped by his past even as he tries
to investigate it. A mega-whore, Victor has sex with just about every
woman he lays his eyes on, but somehow has all the trouble in the world with
Paige, a doctor (Kelly Macdonald from "No Country For Old Men") who wants Victor
to do her a big favor and impregnate her. Victor's relationship with his
mother is anything but defined, and the film is interrupted by flashbacks of a
younger Victor, where past secrets are revealed. These parts of the film
and the narration by Mr. Rockwell add a measure of depth and melancholy,
revealing Victor not as a man loving sex but as a sex addict going through the
motions and hating love.
"Choke" was a smash hit at Sundance back in January and its literate way and
incisive wit make it a certified winner. Mr. Gregg himself appears in
front of the camera as Victor's boss and he has some of the film's best lines.
Ms. Huston makes a nice return to playing film roles other than as cameos or
animated voice work, playing a role that requires a lot of balance and nuance.
She has to play roles in flashbacks and in the present time and she executes
flawlessly. Ms. Huston's role is crucial and she gives her character the
appropriate vigor, warmth, wisdom and sensuality. She does it all so very
discreetly, an opposing wind in the midst of a wild, lusty tale of growing up
not once but twice.
Ms. McDonald also fares well as the doctor, displaying an intelligence and irony
that makes her character the most fully realized subject amongst a troupe of
misfits. Maybe that's saying very little, but Ms. McDonald's work is
perhaps the biggest surprise of all. "Choke" is consistently funny, sexy
even when it's not. The film could have chosen either the "Auto Focus"
route showing sexual addiction at its most seedy and unsightly or the
"Everything You Were Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask"
route. The great news is that Mr. Gregg landed "Choke" somewhere in
between.
"Choke" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for strong
sexual content, nudity and language. The film's duration is one hour and
29 minutes.
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