Review of Choke (2008) by Taylor B — 22 Jan 2010

?What would Jesus not do?? says our ?hero? at one point. Sam Rockwell plays a sex addict who chokes at restaurants in order to get his life saved, become sympathetic and get money to pay his Mother?s hospital bills. Rockwell is possibly the most underrated actor of our time, he slips into each role with such brilliance and plays them all with equal effort and talent. His character, Victor Mancini, keeps his mother alive in order to find out who his real father is. Anjelica Huston plays Ida Mancini, his mother and she matches Rockwell?s performance equally. They?re perfectly cast as a very odd son/mother relationship.

Director Clark Gregg has one problem: a budget. No offense to the Showtime series Dexter (of which I am a massive fan of), but Choke plays out exactly like a episode of Dexter in terms of pacing and overall look. It?s understandable for Dexter, it?s a TV series but Choke is a film and it should look a bit better then what it does. The usage of flashbacks even strikes a similar cord to Dexter?s. It?s not a problem, but I?d prefer my films to be a little more, well? cinematic.

Choke is entirely admirable in it?s plot, and twisted tone. The film could have been a classic had a few things been fixed and one of them is it?s run length. It honestly needed another hour, you see the characters and overall concept are just plain brilliant and aren?t used enough. I?m starting to think that this would have worked much better as a TV series then a film.

I don?t want to come off like I didn?t like this film, I did. It?s strange, weird and gross yet charming all in one. Clark Gregg, while not the best of visual directors, does manage to create some sort of coherence in some of the more zany scenes (a internet date who wants to do a ?rape fantasy? is a stand-out in both oddity and being hilarious) and Rockwell and crew do well with their quirky parts. But Choke is undercooked in so many ways. It?s like giving someone the recipe for the ultimate meal, and they don?t keep it in the oven long enough so that in the end you get a meal that while is edible, just isn?t as good as it can be.