Genres

Visitors Review

Tim Brayton 2012-05-16 21:48:48

It wants to be sleazy, or at least naughty; it's only tired. And it's just too slight to really say much more for or against it.

Adam Fendelman 2012-05-16 04:05:28

Standing and pacing during our interview, Sam Rockwell made a hilarious theatrical moment out of his frustration while lighting a cigarette. He talked about his latest characterization, which is a challenging performance channeling an Oedipal personality.

brando647 2012-05-10 22:22:51

Good Enough for a Rental on a Slow Night

When you combine one of my favorite actors (Sam Rockwell) and anadaptation of a novel from the man who wrote FIGHT CLUB, I expect greatthings. The premise is sound and promises the same great dark humor andslick writing, and the studio probably expected it to be as big a cultfavorite as Fincher's film. But it wasn't and I'm not really surprised.Whereas FIGHT CLUB was a sharp ode to chaos, CHOKE never rises to beanything near as interesting. Based on another novel from writer ChuckPalahniuk, it follows sex addict Victor Mancini (Rockwell) who worksfull-time in a colonial recreation when he's not visiting hisAlzheimer's-afflicted mother in a nursing home. To pay for the cost ofher care, Victor likes to take advantage of the kindness of strangerswhen he pretends to choke in restaurants and milks money from hiswealthy "saviors". Victor makes the best of his bad situation but whathe really wants is to learn the truth about his father. As a child,Victor bounced from foster family to foster family, and each time hismother would swoop him and steal him away. Victor's never known normallife and all he wants before his mother dies or loses the lastremaining piece of her mind is to find out who his real father is. Anew doctor in his mother's facility may have found a way to restore hismom's mental health, and all it requires is for Vincent to do what hedoes best.I wish this movie was better. It's not a bad movie. It's funny and thecast does a great job. I just become annoyed with the fact that thestory wanders its way through it's meager 92 minute running time. Itnever feels like the movie's trying to move you along a narrative pathwith a focused finish. It just bounces between Vincent's search for thetruth about his father/his business with Paige (the doctor who informsVincent of the experimental procedure for his mother) and Vincent'sdescent further into his sexual addiction while his buddy Dennyprogresses through his S.A. and improves his life. By the end of themovie, you expect a bigger finish as Vincent begins to overcome hisaddiction and learns about his father. Instead, the end just sort ofhappens. Sure, the plot is wrapped up for the sake of the movie but itdoesn't really feel like it accomplished anything. What breakthroughsthere are in Vincent's story are almost breezed through. I haven't readthe novel, but I'm considering checking it out because all theingredients are here for an awesome dark comedy/drama but I feel likethe filmmakers gave us the Cliff Notes version. Maybe I just expectedtoo much because the last Palahniuk hit had David Fincher behind thecamera. Here, we get Clark Gregg (most famous as Agent Coulson in theMarvel movies). Not that there's anything wrong with that, necessarily.It's Gregg's first and only directing gig, and he did a decent job forwhat it's worth.I've already mentioned Sam Rockwell as one of my favorite actors (hereand elsewhere). He guarantees an awesome job, even in the most minor ofroles. So it's always cool when he's given the main role in a movie(e.g. CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, MOON). He's great as Vincent,equal parts cynical jerk and desperate man. The respected AnjelicaHuston is Vincent's mother Ida and she can be pretty fun in theflashback sequences to Vincent's childhood. There's a good blend in thesupporting cast with the highlight being Brad William Henke asVincent's friend Denny. Very Seth Rogen-ish, he earns some laughs. Andthere's plenty of laughs to be had here. I loved Vincent's dealingswith the mentally unstable residents of his mom's nursing facility.Kelly Macdonald is pretty amusing as the no-nonsense Paige, playing herjust off-kilter enough to know there's something off about her butseeming confident enough to maybe believe the extreme scenario shebrings to Vincent. There's a lot in this movie that almost works butdoesn't feel fleshed out enough. In my opinion, we spent too much timehanging out at the colonial recreation where Vincent and Denny work. Ifyou're condensing a novel to fit a movie, trim that stuff that isn't asnecessary to the story to keep it moving. And watching Vincent lustover a milkmaid (Bijou Phillips) and bicker with his over-bearing boss(director Gregg) didn't really do much except give Gregg extra screentime. Or maybe it's just me.

tigerfish50 2012-05-10 17:00:04

Choking on Choke

Nothing much can be gained by attempting to summarize "Choke's"implausible plot about an irritating sex-addict, who works in amoribund colonial theme park and is somehow able to extract financialsupport from strangers by faking choking episodes. This charmlessanti-hero spends much of his time agonizing over strategies to learnhis father's identity from his narcissistic Alzheimer-afflicted mother,while women constantly throw themselves at him. "Choke" has the qualityone might expect if a group of particularly talentless high-school kidsat a keg party had decided to make a film, and roped in their mostinebriated companions to play various roles and be the crew. It isclearly trying to be an offbeat dark comedy, but it is neither funnynor dark - it is simply dumb and vulgar. The incoherent juvenilescreenplay, wretched production values and witless direction reduces atalented cast to the level of amateur dramatics from the openingmoments until the maudlin finale. Nobody comes out of this lookinggood, but it's an especially painful experience watching the luminousKelly Macdonald struggling to make something out of such coarsematerial. Everybody else appears to be mailing it in - which, inretrospect, might have been the wisest course of action.

Joshua Tyler 2012-05-06 02:03:11

Sam Rockwell plays Victor as a 70s porn star, born two decades too late.

Kyle Smith 2012-05-05 19:00:33

Choke tries to be dirty but manages merely to be dingy.

2012-05-01 13:23:37

It's ok

If I had not ready the book, this movie would probably be somewhat confusing. It's already only 1 1/2 hrs long and moves at a very fast pace. I liked the movie, mainly because I am very familiar with the book. However, I probably wouldn't recommend this movie, unless you read the book first.

Jeff Bayer 2012-04-30 22:57:16

Sex, choking, the Messiah ... It doesn't have the impact you'd think with those things as the key subjects. It should have gone darker, otherwise Choke just runs out of breath.

Todd Gilchrist 2012-04-29 01:30:55

This second Palahniuk adaptation offers oddball but inauspicious fun.

Patrick Z. McGavin 2012-04-28 04:40:47

The movie's not quite there, but it represents a dark ride into the night that unleashes a series of precarious thrills.

Andrew L. Urban 2012-04-25 02:52:54

Sam Rockwell throws himself into this thornbush of a role with a veracity that is curiously intensified by the (real life) damaged finger in his left hand.

Jeff Vice 2012-04-24 17:35:15

Maintaining the good balance between light and dark story and character elements clearly challenges screenwriter/director Clark Gregg. So, he's lucky to have this good ensemble cast.

Louise Keller 2012-04-23 00:02:33

More quirky than funny, this perverse satire chomps into a sandwich filled with issues like sex and belonging. Pushing the envelope every which way, this adaptation of Chuck Palhniuk's fourth novel is out to shock, confront and offend, which it does,

Harvey S. Karten 2012-04-22 04:59:57

Sam Rockwell's charm gives this pic its deserved kudos.

rrh87 2012-04-21 10:15:08

Pretty entertaining flick...

This is actually a review from someone who read the novel beforewatching, and since I'm sure anyone interested in this movie have hadwatched or read Choke novel or Fight Club, I won't make a synopsis ofthe film.I'm going to start with the cons: I gave this movie a 7 out of 10mainly because of its cinematography; there was zero creativityinvolved in it. From start to finish, you never get to see and letalone appreciate the surroundings in which the characters are. Withthis lack of creativeness, it seemed like the environment from everyscene was a cheap set and not actual places. There's no introduction tothe city in which Victor (the protagonist) lives, his work, the "mentalfacility", etc.This leaves the movie with full of dullness and no life to it,switching from one scene to the next with just the actors interactingwith one another with no pleasant detail to it. Some scenes could havebeen better OR longer (for example; the first choke scene in therestaurant), although nice, it seemed pretty rushed. And talking aboutlonger scenes comes my third con: its length. This movie is almost 1hrand half and I'm sure if they made it at least 2hrs long it could havebeen better, but that's just my opinion.The jokes are pretty faithful to the novel and most of them will atleast manage to get a chuckle out of you. The protagonist sometimesnarrate some scenes a la Fight Club which is a nice touch. The actingis very good and Sam Rockwell perfectly portrayed Victor Mancini as thereckless sex addict. Brad William Henke (Denny) seemed out of place inthis movie, since his true character should have been skinny instead oftall and bulked. Same thing with Victor's mom Ida Mancini (AnjelicaHuston) which they portrayed her kind of healthy instead of a sick,skinny woman.Finally, the movie is very good and entertaining with its dark humor,but it seriously lack in the cinematography and length department.

come2whereimfrom 2012-04-21 06:21:19

At last another Chuck makes it to the big screen!

Choke is the second Chuck Palahnuik book to get the big screentreatment after 'Fight Club' and hopefully not the last. As anyone whohas read any of his books will testify they seem almost impossible tofilm yet any could become a script so much more imaginative than theusual Hollywood fodder. So to this then adapted and directed by ClarkGregg and starring Sam Rockwell as the main character Victor Manciniand Anjelica Huston as his mother. Based on such a rich text the filmsmain charm as you can imagine is in the voice-over and the sharpness ofthe script, Victor, moving from one scam to the next, is a sex addictwho fakes choking in restaurants so people save his life and becomeattached to him sending him cash which he uses to pay for his mothershospital care. With flashbacks we are given opportunity to see Victor'supbringing before jumping back to the present in hospital visiting hismother who is losing her mind which is where we meet Dr. Paige Marshallthe woman assigned to her case and also the woman fast becoming Victorsobject of desire. Through a series of funny set pieces in the hospitalor in the medieval re-enactment town where Victor works and goofs awaythe hours with his pal Denny the story is well paced. Victor, desperateto get his mother to tell him who his father is while she can stillremember, is fast beginning to spiral out of control. Then comes thetwist and although well done it will be no surprise to people who hadread the book, which is a shame, because it loses some impact. Don'tthough let this put you off what is a funny, filthy and deviouslyclever film. Great performances, well adapted and even a cameo by Chuckhimself. For fans like myself it's just nice to see the work on the bigscreen and done well, for none fans it should, if nothing else, serveas an introduction to one of the greatest writers around today.

Matt Turcio 2012-04-14 13:08:13

Wow what a movie

I saw an advanced screening of Choke a couple nights ago and i was very pleased. However not all audiences may like this film so for precautionary measures you must remember two things before you buy a ticket and go to see this film. First of all Choke is from the same people who made Fight Club, which if you are not aware of is a fantastic but extremely deranged film (much like this one). Second, the main plot is about a sex addict's life who goes to restaurants and chokes to be saved on purpose so that the person saving him will always be apart of his life and he can have that feeling in someone's arms which, to him, is the best feeling of the process. You have to be open minded for this movie and if you are queasy and not comfortable with sex on screen or other disturbing images, this is probably not the best movie for you. However if you can tough it out this movie is hilarious in ever sense of the word. Its messed up humor but had me laughing throughout the majority of the movie. I can't say much but to just watch it and not judge the plot/movie by its visuals and vulgarity, but by its humor and distinctiveness.

Des Partridge 2012-04-13 13:43:16

Gregg, with his first directing job, has risen to the challenge, and adapted Choke without sacrificing anything and resulting in a less conventional film.

Victor Olliver 2012-04-13 12:15:30

The many opportunities to send up sex and psychiatry are thrown away when the film gets serious about Victor's bond with his mum. We are Freud alive.

2012-04-13 04:30:47

Nutty Charm

Clark Gregg directed and wrote this film. As an actor, Gregg was in "Clear & Present Danger" & "The Usual Suspects." He was a protegee of David Mamet. He takes what I understand to be a complex book and creates an engaging screenplay. The character he plays in the film, the Lord High Charlie, was not a factor in the book but becomes a major supporting role as the obsessive character always looking for an infraction of theme park rules. Oscar winner Anjelica Houston who was great in Medium - The Fourth Season plays Ida Mancini, a mentally disturbed woman who now deteriorates into dementia. Her relationship with her son Victor is touchingly pathetic. Victor is a strange man. He's played superlatively by Sam Rockwell who I loved in the cult classic Lawn Dogs and also appeared in "Snow Angels" and more recently in "Frost/Nixon." His penchant for trying to scam people out of money in restaurants by false sympathy generated from staged choking incidents is equal parts scary & strange. He develops a love interest with Paige Marshall, a doctor at the nursing home where his mother resides. Kelly Mac Donald plays the character with nutty charm. MacDonald was nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy for her role in "The Girl in the Cafe" & was also nominated for a British Academy Award for her role in "No Country for Old Men." The triangle between Huston, Rockwell & MacDonald carries the film. Brad Henke from "The Amateurs" & "The Zodiac" plays Denny, Victor's best buddy. Denny seems as off balance as the institutionalized with his plan to build a rock house. Gillian Jacobs plays his girlfriend Beth who he meets at a club where she disrobes. Gregg's screenplay is based on Chuck Palahniuk's book. His book "Fight Club" was also made into a film. While the pacing sputters a bit, the characters keep us engaged and make this an entertaining experience. The DVD extras are interesting for those who want to know how films are made. Enjoy!