Choking as a career path may draw incredulous stares from many, but that is the life choice of Victor Mancini, the lead character of the film "Choke." Based on the 2001 novel Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk, the movie chronicles the conflicted life of Victor.
Victor is a sex-addicted con man working in a living museum of Colonial America. Victor chokes, purposely, at crowded restaurants, and when someone saves him, he plays on their sympathies for cash. But he's not all bad. The only reason Victor runs this con is to support his mother, who psychologically abused him. Also, Victor thinks he's Jesus. If "Choke" sounds scattered, that's because it is. Eventually the movie makes sense, but it takes some getting use to.
Palahniuk has achieved a cult following with his earlier works such as Fight Club. Fans of the original Choke will be pleased to know the movie follows the novel as close as any movie can, although the ending may upset loyal fans. Otherwise, the movie retains all but one of the key events and also keeps many of the lesser happenings from the novel. In particular, the film stays true to nearly all of Palahniuk's original dialogue and offbeat sense of humor.
The script manages to capture the Palahniuk original almost completely, and this proves to be the movie's strongest suit. Lines such as "Hit me. Do you want me to use the knife? No, when you hit someone with a knife that's called stabbing," capture Palahniuk's eccentric sort of humor, and it's present throughout the movie. The casting in the movie is also exceptional, with Sam Rockwell perfectly capturing the depression, charisma and perversion of Victor. From Victor's dying mother to the governor of Colonial America, all the parts are filled with appropriate actors that seem authentic. The movie is propelled by the use of original music, which generally captures the mood and feel of what is happening in the movie. All in all, the music supplements the movie well, making energetic scenes more exciting and lowering the mood of somber sequences.
However, missing are the repetition of key thoughts or phrases, which serve to emphasize important themes in Palahniuk's novels. The movie, while providing some insight into Victor's brain with occasional sequences where he is heard thinking, cannot accurately capture the obsessive and paranoid nature of the protagonist, but it does a fair job of retaining the novel's nihilistic themes.
The movie falls short at times. While it's genuinely funny in some places, such as the memorable scene where Victor's best friend is shackled and harassed by children, a lot of the funny scenes are undermined by Victor's pathetic nature. The clearest example is when Victor steals a walker from an old lady and then proceeds to smash it against the wall to prove that he's not good. While the scene may sound funny, the comedic element is completely lost in Victor's desperation.
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"Choke" may upset diehard Palahniuk fans because the ending has been severely altered, which alters the meaning of the work as a whole. However, for any common Palahniuk fan or anyone interested in contemporary anti-culture and nihilism, "Choke" is worth the ticket price.
"Choke"
Grade: B
