Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight PicturesBelieve it or not, studio execs weren’t very receptive to Fight Club when David Fincher brought author Chuck Palahniuk’s first novel to the big screen in October of 1999. Things didn’t get any better when the critics gave it mixed reviews and Fight Club was deemed “controversial.” At that point, 20th Century Fox considered the film a box office failure because it didn’t meet the studio's expectations. They were wrong.
Fight Club‘s smirking revenge didn’t come until June of 2000 when it was released on DVD and became a cult hit. Consequently, the film’s success also launched Palahniuk’s writing career; and, in 2001, Palahniuk sold the film rights to his then unpublished novel Choke. Seven years later, Palahniuk’s second novel is finally ready to make its theatrical debut. Like Fight Club before it, Choke delves into the dark, twisted world of a self-destructive antihero struggling with identity issues.
Obviously, the biggest draw to the film will be its connection to Fight Club and its literary creator. But, what audiences need to remember is that Choke is NOT Fight Club, and Victor Mancini is NOT Tyler Durden. Tyler’s gone. Tyler went away. Choke is Victor’s theme park. Instead of space monkeys and boxing clubs, Victor’s version of Colonial America is littered with “safe” words, obstructed bowels, and the airline sex circuit.
In Choke, we meet Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell), the backbone of Colonial America…so to speak. Victor and his best friend Denny (Brad Henke) work as “historical interpreters” (i.e. tour guides) at a New England theme park where Victor spends his days ogling Ursula the milk maid (Bijou Phillips) and trying to keep Denny from being locked up in the stocks.
When these phony 17h century miscreants aren’t busy sporting their tacky Colonial-era wigs, sex addict Victor and chronic masturbator Denny attend 12 step meetings for their sexual addictions. Of course, neither of them seems to be able to stay “recovered” longer than a couple of days. Denny’s hand finds its way into his pants about as often as Victor slips out of meetings to have sex with fellow addict Nico (Paz de la Huerta).
Unfortunately, Victor’s menial day job at the theme park doesn’t pay enough to cover the costs of keeping his mother Ida (Angelica Huston) in a private healthcare facility. So, in order to make up the difference, Victor runs one hell of a scam to help make ends meet – he stages his own near-choking death in restaurants. After he allows some noble bystander to feel heroic by saving him, Victor then cons these Good Samaritans into becoming benefactors by getting them to send money out of concern for his well-being.
As if that wasn’t enough to keep Victor occupied between sexual escapades, his dementia laden mother no longer recognizes him. The other patients in the hospital have given Victor a messiah complex. His mother’s doctor, Paige Marshall (Kelly MacDonald), wants to have sex with him, which wouldn’t be a problem, except that Victor can’t get it up when he’s with her. All the while, Victor’s facing a rather unusual identity crisis that I won't reveal here.
Unfortunately, Victor’s menial day job at the theme park doesn’t pay enough to cover the costs of keeping his mother Ida (Angelica Huston) in a private healthcare facility. So, in order to make up the difference, Victor runs one hell of a scam to help make ends meet – he stages his own near-choking death in restaurants. After he allows some noble bystander to feel heroic by saving him, Victor then cons these Good Samaritans into becoming benefactors by getting them to send money out of concern for his well-being.
As if that wasn’t enough to keep Victor occupied between sexual escapades, his dementia laden mother no longer recognizes him. The other patients in the hospital have given Victor a messiah complex. His mother’s doctor, Paige Marshall (Kelly MacDonald), wants to have sex with him, which wouldn’t be a problem, except that Victor can’t get it up when he’s with her. All the while, Victor’s facing a rather unusual identity crisis that I won't reveal here.
Choke isn’t a film for everyone. Since the protagonist is a sex addict, sex scenes and boob shots are the crux of his cinematic world. Another issue to take into consideration before rushing out to see Choke is the raunchiness of its humor. To a lot of people, sex is funny. So is fecal matter, but it's not for everyone. If you have issues with any of this, you might as well go see a different movie.
For everyone else who has already read the book, Choke is downright hilarious, and Palahniuk’s fans will appreciate Clark Gregg’s faithful adaptation of his twisted characters. The altered segments are minimal, additions were done only out of necessity, and the nonlinear narrative is streamlined just enough to keep viewers from getting lost among its sequence of events. Yet, as close as Choke remains to its literary source, it’s obvious that something important is missing.
Transferring written material to a visual medium is never an easy task because omissions must be made. When Gregg wrote the screenplay for Choke, he chose to focus on the character relationships, the love story, and the manifestations of Victor’s identity crisis. Overall, the film works with just those elements. However, the one element Gregg chose to eliminate happens to be the one element that really ties everything together – the psychology of Victor’s addiction. Without it, there’s no real depth to Victor’s world.
Transferring written material to a visual medium is never an easy task because omissions must be made. When Gregg wrote the screenplay for Choke, he chose to focus on the character relationships, the love story, and the manifestations of Victor’s identity crisis. Overall, the film works with just those elements. However, the one element Gregg chose to eliminate happens to be the one element that really ties everything together – the psychology of Victor’s addiction. Without it, there’s no real depth to Victor’s world.
Audience members who haven’t read the novel may have a hard time understanding the driving force behind Victor's self-destructive behavior. But, then again, they still might not be able to understand the psychological subtext of the book even it was in the film. Look at Fight Club. I’m still amazed at how many people can’t see how the film thematically uses the violence in the fight clubs as a metaphor for the aggressive feelings that stem from the conflict between a generation of young people and their value system of advertising.
In any case, those who appreciate dirty-minded satires will probably enjoy Choke. Whether or not you get anything out of the film other than a good laugh is entirely up to you. All I know is that I’ll never be able to say the word “poodle” with a straight face ever again.
© Left From Hollywood 9/26/2008
© Left From Hollywood 9/26/2008
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