Several journalists have claimed that Chuck's writing is purely shock value and bordering on nihilistic ideas. However Chuck has maintained that all his novels have been about Romance. I am sorry to say these are the very people who would blink their eyes to watch Game of Thrones which is nothing but cheap porn, incest, rape and pedophilia. Or the very people who will pick up Murakami and glorify his books because they have hidden meanings in them, which is sad because people refuse to see what is infront of them and are always looking for that hidden meaning, something between the lines and there are frauds who use this to sell anything to make money. In order to understand a writer one must understand who he is. When one reads Hemingway or Hunter S Thompson or Dostoevsky for that matter you are not reading words but you are reading the mind of the author. So in order to understand Chucks writing you have to look at his past which is in itself horrific. However in each and every novel we are presented with a character who is fundamentally flawed but also fundamentally good. You see this in fight club where they accost the Asian clerk at the Parking Lot, you see it here in Choke where in the protagonist is deeply flawed but is humane much like humanity. All his works are similar, they are purely about redemption, isn't this what we are looking for. This isn't nihilism, nihilism is pure contempt for the world, have no values or principles you can do anything because you don't believe in anything. Which is so far away from all the protagonists in any of his books in my opinionThe sad part is this review will probably be ignored, but i believe he is an extremely underrated writer.

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.

At the center of Choke are two superb, veteran character actors - Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston - who hand in such powerful, passionate performances that it's very likely they thought they were making a much better film than Choke. It's quite possible, in fact, that the initial script they read was much more fluent and coherent than the final product, and that it was the editing that butchered the film. Maybe a director's cut, with 40 or 50 extra minutes, will one day prove that to be the case.As it is, Choke is a barely coherent mess. It apparently tries to (or pretends to) tackle some pretty large issues, like sex addiction, subjective morality, and nurture vs. nature, but it says nothing about any of them and the end result is merely a pretty tasteless dark comedy with lots of explicit sex scenes. Entire plot threads are left hanging and make absolutely no sense, not by themselves nor in any sort of meaningful relation to others. It's most likely that Clark Gregg really loved the book, but had no idea how to make a movie out of it. It feels like a series of short scenes cut from a much larger work; that and the strong acting is enough to make for a few entertaining scenes, but not enough to make a watchable movie.

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.