Choke is an absolute riot of a film. It is hands down the funniest movie I've seen this year, taking dark raunchy humor to new levels. All the while remaining grounded in a believable touching mother -son relationship drama. The story has just enough reality and sadness that allows you to believe these people can actually exist in your community, which only makes the film work even more. Sam Rockwell is the heart and soul of the film playing Victor to perfection. Angelica Huston gives a solid performance playing his mentally ill dying mother Ida. The rest of the cast is fantastic, with each supporting character adding to the rich mosaic of this comedic masterpiece. Just when you think they aren't going to go there, they do, and in ways you could never have imagined. Choke is one of those rare gems that due to its mature subject matter will be relegated to a limited theatrical release but is well worth the effort to find.

Grade A++

I hope you're right. I'm seeing it later this weekend and I love the book so I hope it's a faithful adaptation.

Good film. Not great. I loved Rockwells performance. The flashbacks were kinda off and didnt really like that. but overall it was a good film.

and I saw it at a shitty theater. =/

8/10

It was funnier than I expected. And then it fell apart towards the end.

Holy shit.

Didn't care for it in the least. There was hardly any point to it and I didn't care about the characters.

I didn't think the book Choke would be a favorite by thompsoncory

Loved the book, actually quite surprised by the positive comments here so far. Makes me wanna run out of work at the moment and just see the film.

Wasn't crazy about this one.

5/10 (C-)

I can understand why Choke has gotten such a mixed reception: It's a strange movie that deals with addiction and perversions in such a comical fashion that it's bound to turn some off. But I'm not one of those people. Though Choke has its share of deeper, heftier material, it wrings laughter through some very effective material (though some of it is in such poor taste that you might feel guilty about laughing at it). Sam Rockwell is right on the money as sex addict Victor. His comedic timing is superb, and he has no problem pulling off the more serious elements of his character as well. After this and his excellent work in the criminally ignored Snow Angels, my opinion of him as an actor has changed dramatically. The rest of the cast also fits well into place, particularly Angelica Huston as Victor's dying mother (who has a few screws loose herself) and Kelly Macdonald as her doctor. With a running time of just over 90 minutes, it's a bit too short, but it's a wickedly funny and surprising ride while it lasts. It's not for everyone, but if it sounds like it's up your alley, check it out.

B+

5/10 -> C-

I almost choked myself from laughing at the end (the death bed scene and everything). It was hysterical. But the movie is a glorious mess. It's all over the place. The horrible and awfully indie directing is it's main problem. The movie never captured a certain sense, feel or style. I hope someone takes another stab at this.

It's funny, yeah. But that alone doesn't make a great movie.

It takes a certain kind of talent to turn Palahniuk's brilliantly subversive vision into a totally mediocre and generic film.

It's just far too conventional, bland, and - dare I say - tame to sufficiently capture the spirit of the book. Part of this is due to the lame performances and total lack of humour, but it's mostly the fault of first-time director Gregg, who shoots the whole thing like it's an episode of Scrubs. It's quite something to see Palahniuk's bizarre and absurd plot developments depicted with such apathy and general lameness. It'd be almost surreal if it wasn't so damned sad.

It also has one of the worst endings I've ever seen. It just coasts weakly to a stop, with nothing resolved or explained. I'm not sure how the novel ended, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as lame as this.

So yeah, bad movie. Save your money and read the book again.

the moment it insulted scrubs, this post ceased to matter.

He's not knocking Scrubs. TV looks like TV. He's mocking Choke, supposely a film, for looking like television.

Regardless, he's mocking it by comparing it to Scrubs, perhaps it's not intended to mock it, but it leaves a negative impact.

Scrubs is funny, but it's a TV sitcom, so it looks drab and flat. It does, I'm sorry; this is not debatable. This is the effect of tv-size budgets and the rushed schedule. You expect sitcoms to look like that; there's no real shame involved. But in a MOVIE?

I'm not sure you understand.

I like Scrubs too. But there's nothing cinematic about it. The same with Choke. Although it's missing the humour of the television show, it looks pretty much the same.

Get it, Savage/Marin/Milk?

*waves a white flag*

You brought this on yourself, whatever-your-name-is.

You attack one snob, you attack 'em all.

haha, fair enough.
I surrender simply because I see your point, and am sorry that I misunderstood. Don't think that you offended me or anything, this place quiekly teaches one how to grow a thicker skin
*EDIT* oh, and fyi, it is officially John Savage, a reference to two very awesome things. It won't change again, anytime soon.

What are you referencing? Aldous Huxley and Uncle Buck?

Nice pickup on the Huxley reference, I was hoping everyone would get that.

But what's the other thing?

yay for yoshue

that's actually the easy one, even for someone who is more of a fan of 30's literature than modern film.