By: debbie lynn elias
Chuck Palahniuk may be a familiar name to all you bookworms out there. He may also be a familiar name to all you moviegoers thanks to a twisted little film called “Fight Club” which was adapted for the screen based on Palahniuk’s novel of the same name, his first. In either case, his legion of fans are relentless, devoted and attentive to ever period and comma. Often described as a nihilist, Palahniuk’s writing style is exceedingly detailed, minimalistic with limited vocabulary and short sentences, punctuated with narrative styling; a type of writer whose works are not often easily translated cinematically but when they are, the result is engrossing, entertaining and as with his latest adaptation for the big screen, CHOKE, twistedly funny. Written and directed by Clark Gregg, the film is true to the source material but as with any adaptation, has at least a few changes – in this case minor – which in the long run make this film better than the book!
Victor Mancini is a med school drop out – – and con artist. By day he works as a “historical interpreter” (aka actor) at a tourist attraction 18th Century Colonial village where he plays “the backbone of Colonial America – an indentured Irish servant.” Not merely a reenactment, the players must “live” the life and be in costume at all times when on the village premises. Not something that comes easily to Victor. However, the gig has its perks – comely young women dressed as milkmaids and gentlewomen who are at his beckon call, or not. By night, his life is a little more interesting as he works a “choking” con on unsuspecting restaurant patrons, “Good Samaritans”, who he then befriends after they save his life and actually makes a very nice income thanks to their generosity who are determined to keep Victor in their lives. Such a nice boy, dontcha know.
But nice in Victor’s case needs to be qualified as Victor has another unusual aspect to his personality. He is a sex addict. Big time. Anytime, anywhere, anyone – and that includes hallways and bathrooms at his 12 step meetings for sex addiction.
Another dimension of Victor’s persona is his mother Ida Mancini. Now in the throws of dementia, we quickly learn that in Victor’s eyes, Ida is the cause of every “mess” in his life. He quit medical school to work to pay for her to be in a private medical facility. His choking performances are also allegedly done as a means of income to care for Ida. And as for his sexual addiction, according to his best friend and fellow addict Denny, Ida is the cause of that, too.
To hear Anjelica Huston who plays Ida describe the underlying nature of Victor’s troubles is fascinating. “When he was a small child, she did in fact kidnap him. They do this ritual in department stores and so forth where she warns him about people who might be calling on the intercom, aliases and so forth. She is a rather unusual woman. She is a kind of disaster theorist. She is always warning him about hideous things that are going to happen to him and can possibly happen to him were it not for her great protection. Of course, she is the mother from hell. A minor caveat.” But somewhere along the way, something happens to Victor. He meets his mother’s new physician, Dr. Paige, who has some rather strange recommendations for what will cure Ida – and it involves sex, impregnation, a chapel, and an old dairy of Ida’s written in Italian. Did we say sex? Oh yeah. Victor’s in. (Pun intended folks!)
An interesting casting choice, Sam Rockwell tackles Victor Mancini with wry aplomb. He is engaging, energetic, animated and even hapless, but he also exudes a sexy loneliness in his scenes with Kelly Mac Donald that just pop from the screen. I personally loved Brad William Henke’s Denny. This is the perfect male best friend. He is loyal, supportive and always tries to not only better himself but his friend, in this case Victor. Henke’s Denny transforms to serve as a moral compass in the film. He is refreshingly enjoyable and accomplished scene stealer! Kelly MacDonald is luminous as Dr. Paige. Often ethereal with her soft spoken whispers, she has a nunlike presence which bodes for big laughs while having sex with Victor in the church chapel. And as you will come to find out, Dr. Paige harbors a huge secret, a fact not lost on MacDonald’s performance and body language which hints without revealing until the time is right. And as if writing and directing isn’t enough, Clark Gregg gives one of the most ribald and hysterical performances of his career as Lord High Charlie, the manager of the Colonial Village. A real surprise is a cameo by Heather Burns as a rape fantasist who has a very explicit set of rules. I couldn’t stop laughing during her “rape fantasy” with Rockwell’s Victor. Burns and Rockwell are irreverently funny. And don’t miss a witty performance from Gregg’s father-in-law, Oscar winner Joel Grey, as Phil, leader of Victor’s 12 step group.
But the real coup is Anjelica Huston as Ida, as she herself says, “The mother from hell.” She is delicious although she doesn’t look old or decrepit enough to be in the declining stages of dementia – obviously a shortcoming of the make-up department. Becoming her calling card of late, Huston doesn’t know what appeals to her about playing a sexy weird twisted mother. “I find them more interesting than the bland hockey mom of present day choice. I think it’s basically they are fun to play, these parts. They are different. Off the wall. It’s always a lot more fun to play kind of strangely sexy than it is to play at home perky and perfect.” Thanks to flashbacks we see a young vibrant sexy Huston engaged in Ida’s “Mata Hari”, much of which is played for laughs to great success and strength and on which the story heavily relies. A voracious reader, I was surprised to learn that Huston wasn’t familiar with the novel “Choke.” “I have been drawn to Chuck Palahniuk’s work but I think it’s more for the boys. It wasn’t a book that I was attracted to by reading the reviews. I read “Fight Club” after I saw the movie. I think Chuck Palahniuk is a great brain.” She has now changed her mind and relishes Palahniuk’s words.
Clark Gregg has done a superb job not only with directing this film, but with adapting Palahniuk’s story about our insecure antihero Victor and the foibles of his life. With a comfortable blend of narration and dialogue, more life is breathed into the film than that in the book. Although the very nature of Palahniuk’s material draws strong comparison to “Fight Club”, Gregg easily overcomes the similarities with his concentration on heart and love (often Oedipal) which parallels Huston’s take on the story, “the endless and hapless search for love as substituted in Victor Mancini’s life by food, the whole choking thing, this whole kind of possessive that the mother holds him in her thrall by shoving food down his throat, his reaction is choking and then later on in life the tables turn and then she is rejecting it. So they never come together at the same time, these two people. A deeply unhealthy relationship.” Both the narrative and the dialogue are often more than hilarious, guaranteed to garner genuine guffaws of laughter.
Challenging for Gregg was creating the characters and dialogue for the 12 step meetings. It was something he “forgot about” until he realized there are supposed to be “people talking at these things.” The look on his face, even today, regaling this writer’s horror, was itself hysterically funny.
Sadly, a great omission to the film is expansion on a sub-plot involving Denny, a tower of rocks and a stripper with whom he is in love. The groundwork was laid for this sequence to be an important part of the plotline, but it never came to fruition. The simplistic beauty of that relationship is one that I would have liked to have seen explored.
From a directorial and technical standpoint the film is sharply and often brightly toned adding to the emotional edge of the story. Cinematographer Tim Orrr handlely balances the crisp and colorful exteriors – and even interior wall murals at Ida’s hospital – with the dark and dismal psychoses of the characters. A 25 day shoot in New Jersey – at a one time mental facility no less, completes the canvas.
Although described as a dark comedy, CHOKE is anything but dark. Twisted, funny, strange, endearingly sweet, sincere, sexy – yes. But nothing that won’t get you CHOKE-D up with laughter and unbridled enjoyment
Victor Mancini – Sam Rockwell Ida Mancini – Anjelica Huston Denny – Brad William Henke Paige – Kelly Macdonald
Written and directed by Clark Gregg. Rated R.
