Being a bit of a fan of Sam Rockwell and Kelly Macdonald, this was a pretty easy movie to watch. It helped that it was also quite amusing and downright funny in some parts. The sex might put some viewers off, but for me it didn't detract from the movie. I haven't read the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, so I cannot judge whether it does it justice or not. I can only judge on what I just watched.Anjelica Huston and Brad William Henke do a really good job as mother and best friend respectively. Maybe a minor spoiler, look for the blond cancer joke the stripper inadvertently enacted, it made me laugh out loud, but some might not find it so amusing. An amusing movie right up there with some of Sam Rockwell's good ones, one of the few movies on IMDb in which I think the current rating of 6.5/10 is about right.

Informed that his senile mother is dying, a con artist reflects on his life and the disruptive childhood that may have led to him having satyriasis issues in this directional debut from 'What Lies Beneath' screenwriter Clark Gregg. The most intriguing name attached to the film though is novelist Chuck Palahniuk of 'Fight Club' fame and strong parallels can initially be found between the two films, from the witty voice over narration to presence of support groups. Things only get more interesting as our hero then divulges a scheme he has devised to con rich restaurant patrons by pretending to choke. For a film named 'Choke', this scheme far too soon fades into the background though and while we do see him pretending to choke two more times throughout, the film never depicts the after-effects: how he befriends those who save him and how he then extorts money from them. One might argue that the logistics of his scheme are less important than the dilemma of his mother's impending death, but there is too much sentimentality for that angle to gel. In fact, the only stand-out part in the second half of the film comes from a hilarious rape fantasy enactment gone awry, though there are also a couple of plot twists that are delightfully unexpected. Whatever the case, the acting always keeps things afloat with special mentions to Anjelica Huston and Kelly Macdonald. Sam Rockwell is effective in the lead role, but he is dwarfed by his female co-stars here - somewhat appropriately so for a film about a man who finds himself putty in the hands of all the women who he meets.

This movie tells the story of Victor Mancini, a sex addict.He has a mother who doesn't know his son.His hobby includes pretending to be choking in restaurants.But also someone like Victor can find true love, sort of speaking.That special gal is called Paige Marshall, who takes care of his mother.Choke (2008) is directed by Clark Gregg.It's based on a Chuck Palohniuk novel, which I haven't read.Sam Rockwell is the perfect man to play Victor.Jonah Bobo is great as his younger version.Anjelica Huston gives an outstanding performance as his mother Ida Mancini.Kelly Macdonald is brilliant as Paige Marshall.Brad William Henke is terrific as the best friend Denny.Gillian Jacobs gives a great performance as the stripper Beth, Denny's love interest.Director Gregg is very good as Lord High Charlie.Great job by Bijou Phillips as Ursula the Milk Maid.Joel Grey is superb as Phil.This is a nice little movie.It has some brave sex scenes and strong language, but the story it portrays is still somewhat warm.It is quite intriguing when they present us a chance that Victor might be a Jesus clone.This black comedy is worth checking out.

Choke (2008)Being a huge fan of fight club, I was very excited to see Choke. They are both based on books by Chuck Palahnuik and I think they are both good, but very different. Fight Club is much better but I think it would have been interesting to see what Choke could have been with a bigger director or lead actor, and a bigger budget. (I think it might have been given a smaller budget because of it's slightly risqué topics, which I think is unfair.) With that aside I'd like to say I still think that Choke is underrated. It's a great story with a lot of good twists and turns and it best of all, its hilarious. I think it had a lot of potential to be more main stream but something went wrong with that. Clark Gregg isn't as big as a director as David Fincher (director of Fight Club) so I think it might have lost some momentum there. And with that, Sam Rockwell isn't a huge name either. Though neither are big names I still think they did a pretty good job and the rest of the cast did as well, mainly Angelica Huston. From what I've heard, if you read the book you are not going to like the film. I haven't read it so I don't know if that's true. However, if you haven't read the book I think you could really enjoy it. Its very funny, interesting and original. Don't watch it when you are in the mood for a full blown comedy, it is really funny but more drama driven. 8/10