Review of Choke (2008) by Peach B — 09 Feb 2010

Here's a tip: if your wife is out of town, and (like me) you're a bit of a nerd and use the opportunity to rent all of the movies that she'd never consider watching with you...then don't watch "Choke.".

Even though I don't like Chuck Pahlaniuk (every book = written in the exact same first-person voice = good once, ridiculous and unoriginal thereafter), I still think that "Fight Club" is one of the most interesting and relevant and zeitgeist-y movies of the last fifteen years. So I figured...hey, maybe "Choke"--the story of a sex addict who "pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants" in order to give his life-savers a titillating and life-defining moment--might also improve upon its author's original work. I mean, hey. I've never seen Sam Rockwell in a bad movie; his presence inherently makes a so-so movie incredible.

But the movie really just showcases how pathetic a sex addict's life can be, and how there are more shiftless losers in the world than we could ever imagine. So, yes, when your wife is out of town and you choose to watch movies on a Friday night, "Choke" really makes you feel good about life. I don't mind sad and depressing movies, though, as long as they feel relevant..."Choke" doesn't. It offers us nothing new. Just replace the physical combat of "Fight Club" (the only way the characters can feel something) with choking, and the fight club terrorist camps with groups of hopeless sex addicts who are all tough to look at, and there's "Choke." Like all of Pahlaniuk's work, it's a pale copy of "Fight Club," watered-down, not quite as interesting in its characters or its story. Watching it (or reading it) reveals the author's emptiness of new ideas, and unfortunately, devalues the brilliance of "Fight Club.".