Expletive Deleted - Choke
Okay there was no way in \m/ that this movie was not gonna get a review. Some of you are prolly aware that I have been tracking this thing for the past year. So what's so \m/ special about Choke? Its based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk (my favorite author). He's the dude (or I should say god among men) that wrote Fight Club. This is only the second time a novel of his makes it to the big screen, so yeah, really I've been waiting more than a year for this.
The story is about Victor Mancini, a recovering sex addict who dropped out of med school to pay for his mother's hospital bills. By day he works as a "historical interpreter" at a colonial-era theme park. Most nights he runs a scam where he'll choke in a really upscale restaurant to have some rich person become his savior and support him after that.
First of all, I have to say that Im really impressed with how well it stuck to the book. Of course bits here and there were left out, but everything else was just lifted directly from the page (and that's that Palahniuk wasnt even involved in writing the screenplay). The first few scenes in particular really struck me for how near perfection they were (the sexaholics annonymous meeting, Victor's work, the hospital). The film did deviate slightly at the very very end. Basically the events of the last chapter of the book are missing (although the sentiment is definitely there and very well expressed), and there's one major character backstory/motivation change, but I really can't say anything without giving away arguably the biggest spoiler of the movie (the reveal of which, I have to say was beautifully done and also exactly lifted off the page). I also cant remember the last time I heard so many gasps in the audience, and cutting out the sound at that moment helped that. Ask me later if you wanna know how its different.
Another thought on the adaptation, if you've ever read any of Palahniuk's work, you'll know one of his signatures is the sets of repeating phrases. Most notably, in Fight Club, this would be "I am Jack's colon", "I am Jack's smirking revenge", etc. I liked how they dealt with it in this adaptation. Adding it right into Victor's inner monologues/narration would've been too obvious, especially since it was done last time. So instead of all the "See also: (girl's names)" there would be a few second flash of him with said girl, which I thought was a good choice. Sadly since that didnt translate well for the medical term "See also"'s those were missing, there weren't any "X isn't the right word, but its the first one that comes to mind", or there must've been at least one that I prolly missed.
But I do gotta say that even Palahniuk approved of the adaptation. If you look at the interview I posted on Facebook two days ago, he even goes as far as to point out slight variations that he preferred. And apparently he had a small cameo at the end that I _totally_ missed. More of an excuse to head back to the theater and see this again.
Oh and the rape scene was hilarious. That chapter from the book is seriously one of the single most \m/ funny chapters out of any book and it was very well done. I was holding my breath for the punchline (I guess is what you'd call it) at the end of the scene, which was probably the most satisfying moment of the whole thing.
The cast was fantastic. Anjelica Huston is a goddess of the movie world. She plays Ida Mancini, Victor's mother. To some extent she was playing two characters. She had to be mentally deterioirated Ida in the hospital, who swore Victor never came to visit, even though he was there every day, just mistaken for various lawyers and other men she knew. And she had to be conspiracy theorist Ida, in Victor's flashbacks of his childhood when she'd kidnap him from foster families and teach him various emergency codes (Paging "Miss Terrilyn Mayfield" means anthrax). Brad William Henke was a fabulous Denny, exactly the big dumb teddy bear that I always pictured him as. It was kinda sad that he wasn't as prominent in the second half (he's kind of constant in the book, but he dropped off in the film), but given that he was kinda stealing most of his scenes, ultimately I say that was a good call. Kelly Macdonald was great as Dr Paige Marshall, especially with her kind of matter of fact way of delivering most of her lines. Clark Gregg was another scene stealer as Lord High Charlie. His arguments with Victor were priceless. And apparently Gregg was also the writer and director. My respect for him just went up two notches
And this brings us to Sam Rockwell. Oh my God, he has shot up on my list of actors to follow to any movie. He was so spot on, and I felt he nailed every aspect of the character from his numb saracasm to his total breakdowns, everything was great. No joke, I came home and watched The Green Mile (and skipped the first hour before Wild Bill shows up) and then Midsummer's Nights Dream (his Flute/Thisby monologue at the end is fantastic) and I'll prolly end up watching Hitchhikers Guide today. But seriously, at times, I just wanted to bust thru the screen and go give him a big hug and then take him home with me. Definitely gotta keep my eye on this boy.
So yeah, go see this movie. Especially if you like Fight Club. Especially if you're a fan of Palahniuk (I'm looking at you unique9881) or you like this type of strange sarcasm humor (I'm looking at you thedan) or if you trust my taste in movies (I'm lookiing at you, half of my f-list). I can't wait for the next one. Supposedly its "Invisible Monsters" although that was originally thought to happen this year, and now IMDB shows it listed at 2010 with still no updates. So for now...GO SEE CHOKE! If you need a movie buddy, I need to see this again and again and again.
The story is about Victor Mancini, a recovering sex addict who dropped out of med school to pay for his mother's hospital bills. By day he works as a "historical interpreter" at a colonial-era theme park. Most nights he runs a scam where he'll choke in a really upscale restaurant to have some rich person become his savior and support him after that.
First of all, I have to say that Im really impressed with how well it stuck to the book. Of course bits here and there were left out, but everything else was just lifted directly from the page (and that's that Palahniuk wasnt even involved in writing the screenplay). The first few scenes in particular really struck me for how near perfection they were (the sexaholics annonymous meeting, Victor's work, the hospital). The film did deviate slightly at the very very end. Basically the events of the last chapter of the book are missing (although the sentiment is definitely there and very well expressed), and there's one major character backstory/motivation change, but I really can't say anything without giving away arguably the biggest spoiler of the movie (the reveal of which, I have to say was beautifully done and also exactly lifted off the page). I also cant remember the last time I heard so many gasps in the audience, and cutting out the sound at that moment helped that. Ask me later if you wanna know how its different.
Another thought on the adaptation, if you've ever read any of Palahniuk's work, you'll know one of his signatures is the sets of repeating phrases. Most notably, in Fight Club, this would be "I am Jack's colon", "I am Jack's smirking revenge", etc. I liked how they dealt with it in this adaptation. Adding it right into Victor's inner monologues/narration would've been too obvious, especially since it was done last time. So instead of all the "See also: (girl's names)" there would be a few second flash of him with said girl, which I thought was a good choice. Sadly since that didnt translate well for the medical term "See also"'s those were missing, there weren't any "X isn't the right word, but its the first one that comes to mind", or there must've been at least one that I prolly missed.
But I do gotta say that even Palahniuk approved of the adaptation. If you look at the interview I posted on Facebook two days ago, he even goes as far as to point out slight variations that he preferred. And apparently he had a small cameo at the end that I _totally_ missed. More of an excuse to head back to the theater and see this again.
Oh and the rape scene was hilarious. That chapter from the book is seriously one of the single most \m/ funny chapters out of any book and it was very well done. I was holding my breath for the punchline (I guess is what you'd call it) at the end of the scene, which was probably the most satisfying moment of the whole thing.
The cast was fantastic. Anjelica Huston is a goddess of the movie world. She plays Ida Mancini, Victor's mother. To some extent she was playing two characters. She had to be mentally deterioirated Ida in the hospital, who swore Victor never came to visit, even though he was there every day, just mistaken for various lawyers and other men she knew. And she had to be conspiracy theorist Ida, in Victor's flashbacks of his childhood when she'd kidnap him from foster families and teach him various emergency codes (Paging "Miss Terrilyn Mayfield" means anthrax). Brad William Henke was a fabulous Denny, exactly the big dumb teddy bear that I always pictured him as. It was kinda sad that he wasn't as prominent in the second half (he's kind of constant in the book, but he dropped off in the film), but given that he was kinda stealing most of his scenes, ultimately I say that was a good call. Kelly Macdonald was great as Dr Paige Marshall, especially with her kind of matter of fact way of delivering most of her lines. Clark Gregg was another scene stealer as Lord High Charlie. His arguments with Victor were priceless. And apparently Gregg was also the writer and director. My respect for him just went up two notches
And this brings us to Sam Rockwell. Oh my God, he has shot up on my list of actors to follow to any movie. He was so spot on, and I felt he nailed every aspect of the character from his numb saracasm to his total breakdowns, everything was great. No joke, I came home and watched The Green Mile (and skipped the first hour before Wild Bill shows up) and then Midsummer's Nights Dream (his Flute/Thisby monologue at the end is fantastic) and I'll prolly end up watching Hitchhikers Guide today. But seriously, at times, I just wanted to bust thru the screen and go give him a big hug and then take him home with me. Definitely gotta keep my eye on this boy.
So yeah, go see this movie. Especially if you like Fight Club. Especially if you're a fan of Palahniuk (I'm looking at you unique9881) or you like this type of strange sarcasm humor (I'm looking at you thedan) or if you trust my taste in movies (I'm lookiing at you, half of my f-list). I can't wait for the next one. Supposedly its "Invisible Monsters" although that was originally thought to happen this year, and now IMDB shows it listed at 2010 with still no updates. So for now...GO SEE CHOKE! If you need a movie buddy, I need to see this again and again and again.