CHOKE

(USA – 2008 – 89 mins.)

Directed by Clark Gregg

Review By Michael Ricciardi

A “sex farce” with a warm heart that’s really more than a sex farce, and actually, surprisingly, has something of value to say about intimacy and memory, self-love and acceptance, CHOKE follows the somewhat cynical, under-achieving, sex-addict therapy-session-avoiding exploits of Victor (played deceptively low-key and intelligently by Sam Rockwell) and his best buddy Denny (Brad William Hanke) who is also a sex addict and compulsive masturbator.

“Perfect beautiful nothing.” is what Victor says at the beginning of this tale. It is an expression of what he—the sex addict—ultimately seeks, or only partly achieves, during fleeting moments of compulsive sex.

CHOKE is a mystery of sorts; through periodic flashbacks, we learn of Victor’s vagabond youth, the “inspiration” for his first faked “choking” in public, and his unknown father—revealed in various “adventures” and misfortunes with his bohemian and often homeless mother (played by Angelica Houston)—while in present time, we see Victor’s crisis evolve as his mother lay ill in the hospital (seemingly with dementia), and he develops an unconsummated (through no lack of trying) fixation on a pretty medical “resident”. This deceptive fixation becomes both central to the film’s main plot twist, but more importantly, the key to Victor’s father issue resolution and psycho-emotional transformation. But first, Victor must peel away, or break through, the illusions and deceptions about his origins (“son of a cloning attempt from the Holy foreskin”), his mother, his growing infatuation, and of course, his addiction.

CHOKE is a very funny film. The subplot involving his absurdly silly experiences as a “living history interpreter” working on a Colonial era homestead, officiated by a supercilious square (played by writer director Clarke Greg), is a perfectly chosen comic foil/counter balance to the more serious central theme: the transformative power of love. But this subplot is not simply for laughs; it also evolves and intersects prominently with Victor’s maturation and self-awareness. Thus CHOKE is also a complex and serious film. Clark Gregg’s script (based upon the novel by Chuck Palahniuk) and direction is commendable; it never loses its heart even as it reaches for laughs. The random sex—appearing in quick cut scenes--is shown for what it is: a compulsive and impersonal act. Story elements are introduced, developed and resolved skillfully and surprisingly.

Not having read the novel that the screenplay is adapted from, this was/is the biggest surprise about CHOKE: I never expected to be entertained (based upon the catalog description) to the extent that I was; I never would have guessed this film would become one of the best I’ve seen at SIFF 2008, so far.

Michael Ricciardi