Choke

In order to keep his delusional mother (Anjelica Huston) in a high priced hospital, a sex-addicted Colonial theme park worker (Sam Rockwell) stages choking accidents in restaurants to prey on the sympathy of strangers.

Choke is a near-literal adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel by writer-director Clark Gregg. While the result may not be as good as Fight Club, adapted from Palahniuk’s first novel, this is more a limit of the budget and the source material, rather than the talent involved.

Sam Rockwell is great as the lead, a disaffected young man unable to love due to his unresolved issues with his now invalid mother, played by Anjelica Huston. Rockwell generates the perfect mix of wry, smart-alec humor, and genuine vulnerability that makes the character intriguing despite his smarmy behavior.

The supporting cast is good as well, with Gregg himself turning in a memorable role as Rockwell’s overly enthusiastic boss. About the only off performance comes from Brad William Henke, whose turn as Rockwell’s lone friend isn’t pathetic enough to make the friendship believable, something the novel goes to great pains to illustrate.

That said, the film’s biggest problem is that the story isn’t that compelling. It’s essentially about a man unable to break free of his domineering mother, and the collateral damages that result. David Chase mined this same premise with much more success for the early seasons of his series, The Sopranos, but Palahniuk’s tale lacks urgency and meanders at the midway point. It’s not a bad story, just not the best.