Jon Peters Reviews: “Choke”

I love Chuck Palahniuk. I feel like given the right creative team, his novels can become a treasure trove of great movies. But at the same time I can see someone not understanding the use of words Chuck uses, his simple style and constant satire, could be translated into a disaster. Fincher got it 100% perfect with ‘Fight Club’, so much so the film had a better ending than the book, but for this review I’ll abide by the first rule of Fight Club:

‘The first rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club.’

‘Choke’ is one of my other favorite novels by Palahniuk and I was pretty excited to see this, so much so that I avoided seeing the trailer, until it accidentally played in front of a film I recent saw. I guess I could’ve closed my eyes. The reason why is because I completely was afraid a newly turned director Clark Gregg. He’s unproven and I didn’t want to be let down. It’s nothing against Gregg; it’s just that I hold these novels close to me.

I feel as if the film is better after you’ve seen it and have thought about it all. I was kind of disappointed at first. Let me say that the film is darkly humorous, more so that I initial thought it was going to be. Maybe too many days have passed as I don’t remember the book’s humor as amped up as the film but it works completely within this world. While Sam Rockwell wasn’t my first choice to play Vincent, the story protagonist, Rockwell is getting to that point in which he is great in anything. He handles the material as if it’s Shakespeare, crafted Palahniuk’s dialogue into rhythmic verse. Each contemplation or sly remake feels like law. Sometimes only good actors can recite good dialogue and that is well Rockwell wins.

The other cast is equally up to the task as Kelly McDonald and especially Brian William Henke are exceptional. Even Bijou Phillips is good here. With the cast in place, the next thing is Gregg’s vision for the look of the film. Here, to be frank, he makes a flat and dry looking film. The film has no sense of style, each actor dressing like the costume department went shopping as Goodwill, and even the strip club looks plain. I was deeply curious about the style and look of any future Palahniuk films. While they must be true to the story, a sense of fiendish fun would have helped in ‘Choke’. Gregg tries though, as he has flashes of what might Vincent be looking at and that’s fine, seeing a naked nun is pretty hilarious since his sex addiction is haywire, but Gregg needed to spas up the composition. Everything is muted; the colors, the camera work, everything, and it creates a boring looking film. Obviously he isn’t David Fincher. Ah, damn:

‘The second rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club.’

The film uses flashbacks and it nearly mirrors the book in that perspective. Although I feel as if the flashbacks weren’t building towards something like the book did. I feel as if Vincent would’ve come to the conclusions at the climax without the flashbacks. In the film, we get these to add to Vincent’s alienation due to his mother’s near abandonment of him and a non-existence childhood, but I could personally done without these or perhaps bookend the film with these scenes. All in all, I enjoyed the film. It isn’t a strict translation but its damn close, closer than I thought it was going to be. The film is a lot of fun if you enjoy your comedy dark and biting. Sadly, any hope of a ‘Fight Club’-like masterpiece is quickly gone after a few frames, but I think ‘Choke’ will play better seeing it a few more times.