CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 9/26/08

Perverse Fun

By nick randall

You probably know writer-director Clark Gregg better for his work onscreen (he plays Richard on The New Adventures of Old Christine) than off it. But Gregg, who wrote What Lies Beneath back in 2000, shows little rust in adapting Chuck Palahniuk's cult novel into a wickedly entertaining and poignant dark comedy.

Choke

Clark Gregg
Adapted from the novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Victor (Sam Rockwell) is a sex-addicted med-school dropout trying to scrape together enough money to pay his mentally-ill mother Ida's (Angelica Huston) hospital bills. In order to keep up, he runs scams at upscale restaurants by deliberately choking on his food so the wealthy patrons will be forced to "save" him and later send him cash in the mail. When Ida reveals that she's lied about the identity of his birth father, Victor frantically turns to the hospital's new nurse, Paige (Kelly McDonald), for help in decoding his mother's ramblings. Along the way, Victor develops feelings for Paige, forcing him to explore the root of his addiction, as well as his relationship with his dying mother.

If that sounds like a mouthful, it's really not. The plot here is thin, and it works, mostly because Victor is such an unusually charming character that we'll follow him anywhere. What's surprising, then, is that the script doesn't go out of its way to make him a sympathetic figure. It's only five minutes into the film that Victor shows up to his sex addict support group, but opts instead for a quickie with a girl in the bathroom down the hall. The script lets us see Victor for who he really is—a juvenile, conniving, empty man—before showing another side to him: the side that cares about his mother so much that he's willing to lie about his real name so she won't feel bad about not recognizing him anymore.

The story does get a bit muddled in the second act, especially when it's suggested that Victor may be a descendent of Jesus Christ, but thankfully the script is funny enough to overcome all the craziness. The best humor comes from Victor's day job as a servant at a Colonial-era theme park, where he trades barbs with his overbearing boss, Lord High Charlie (played by writer Clark Gregg), and is routinely having to save his co-workers from being sent to the guillotine. And there is no holding back when it comes to Victor's sex addiction: at one point he even hooks up with a visiting school teacher in one of the Colonial shacks.

If there is a complaint, it's that the film loses its edge in the third act and turns a bit too sappy. And the story could have done a better job of explaining Victor's choking routine and exactly how he's able to turn it into a profitable scam. Do people who save others from choking really feel compelled to send them money? The choking bit does have an emotional tie-in at the end, but for a bulk of the film it feels like something out of a different movie.

Choke is one of the few pleasant surprises of 2008. While not perfect, it stands out from the typical Hollywood fare with a darkly funny look at sex addiction and still manages to pack an emotional punch, too. This is not a film for the kids, but it's a breath of fresh air compared to most of the comedies out this year.

Choke
Fox Searchlight
Rated R; 92 min.

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Nick Randall received his MFA in Screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University in 2006. He can be found at the beach or a cubicle somewhere working on his latest screenplay.


Choke courtesy Fox Searchlight

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