Review of Choke (2008) by Joanne P — 07 Apr 2009

Yet another trying-too-hard-to-be-clever satire -this one about a pitiful sex addict trying to make sense of his (lack of) relationships and his quasi-traumatic childhood with a well-meaning but totally incompetent, irresponsible, and inconsistent parent (she hands him a paper bag lunch, says "eat your supper", and the bag contains a can of tab soda and a package of vending-machine cakes).

His mother, played well by Angelica Houston is struggling with dementia in a home and vistied by her son who she doesn't even recognize. The overall tone of the movie is inconsistent, but I suppose I consider it to be a poorly executed black comedy.

The scenes of the main character at work at his Civil War Re-enactment job are mildly amusing and made up for the otherwise lackluster main plot. Worst of all is the "special feature" (and I use that term quite facetiously) section which featured a completely self-indulgent conversation with the author of the book "Choke" and the director of the film "Choke".

It was quite sickening to see the two men pontificate on how brilliant they both were to have written and adapted the story. Sigh.