Choke Calls Spirit of Fight Club for Twisted Fun
Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston Light Up Palahniuk Book Turned Film
Mar 10, 2009
Channeling Fight Club
Quite simply, Choke is Fight Club.
There is a bit of concealment going on here, but it’s essentially the same story.
- The support groups.
- The deviant behaviors.
- In-your-face irreverence clouding flawed, but noble characters.
There is even a plot device similar to the fight club catalyst Brad Pitt and Edward Norton made famous in the earlier film. Only this time it comes in the form of a bizarre con run by Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell).
Victor eats at high-dollar restaurants and pretends to choke, so that he can provide a common, everyday Joe the chance to be a hero…and raise money for his ailing mother’s health care in the process.
Victor Mancini: Con Artist or Hero?
When Victor is not conning humanity, he is usually in one of three places:
- By his mother’s side at the hospital.
- Working as an actor at a Revolutionary War reenactment site.
- At a support group for sexual deviants, where he usually indulges rather than works on his vice.
Victor is the kind of guy, who prides himself on being bad, but deep down his motives – through either fate or nature – tend to have a good effect on the lives he touches.
Chuck Palahniuk has not spread his wings very far creatively with this effort, but he is quite good at what he does. The laughs go beyond bawdy into downright offensive, mean-spirited territory, but it’s funny nonetheless.
Rockwell, Huston, and Comany Elevate Palahniuk's Work
Rockwell is at home in the Victor role, and he’s assisted by an adorable Kelly Macdonald, who plays Paige Marshall, his mother’s oddball nurse.
(You will probably remember Macdonald from last year’s Best Picture Winner No Country for Old Men. She was Carla Jean Moss, Josh Brolin’s wife.)
Victor feels an immediate attraction to her, but he’s got a problem. He can only have sex when love isn’t attached. And he’s falling for her very quickly.
Outrageous moments and characters are in every scene – from Victor’s chronically masturbating best friend to the senile inhabitants of his mother’s hospital, one of which swears up and down Victor touched her “woo-woo.”
The most notable character is a scene-stealing Anjelica Huston, still stunning in both abilities and beauty after all these years. As Victor’s mother, Huston runs the gamut from sexy and witty to insane and oppressive. She lives up to the incredible nature of the role and enhances every moment with her sheer presence.
Adapted for the screen by Clark Gregg, who also directs, Choke may be a knock-off of a better effort, but the deterioration of quality is only slight. The material is not quite as accessible either, due to the extreme sexual perversity of its content, so naturally Choke attracts a smaller audience.
Notes
To read more about Choke, visit IMDB.
For a review of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, check out CurledUp.com.
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