Review of Choke (2008) by Philip — 21 Sep 2008

This is one of the most tortuously awful movies I have ever had the misfortune to sit through. I would've walked out if I was able to muster the strength but this amateurish patchwork of grotesquely off-key humor left me paralyzed with it's sheer incompetence.

I am a fan of black humor and I was not offended by the content of the movie but I WAS offended by the appalling delivery. This film feels like it was edited by a drunkard who has never watched a movie before in his life.

Many shots are out of focus, the boom keeps dropping in front of the camera, the framing is awkward. Man. It's about an hour too long, the performances are feeble, the dialogue is wooden and ludicrous, the plot has zero momentum and almost all of the jokes fall completely flat.

The worst thing is the ham-fisted 'reflection' towards the end of the film where the non-plot winds itself into a black hole of stupidity and the main character begins postulating on what he's learned about 'life' in the haphazard sequence of events that constitute this atrocious movie.

I actually groaned out loud with disbelief at how awful it was. Man, I'm really depressed after watching this trash. It was agony. I understand that they didn't have much to work with - it is Chuck Palahniuk after all - but they could've at least tried.

Did I mention that I think Chuck Palahniuk is overrated and pretty lame in general? That may have colored my review slightly. This is not 'twisted' or 'edgy' or 'dark' or anything like that.

It's just trash. Rather go for a bike ride and have a drink with someone you haven't seen for a while. Life is too short for Chuck Palahniuk.