Adapted from the novel by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk, Choke's mix of grubby sex, dementia, and . . . choking didn't quite find its audience in theaters. But the interplay of farce and drama is funny, grotesque, and even touching.

Sam Rockwell is Victor Mancini, a sex addict who works as a "historic interpreter" at a Colonial Williamsburg-style tourist trap, and by night fakes choking in restaurants to scam money for his mother's hospital bills. And he may have a very famous father. Anjelica Huston plays the mother who used to kidnap Victor from foster care and fill his head with paranoid delusions about anthrax and terrorists, but now can't remember who she's talking to. With Kelly MacDonald as a doctor willing to go the extra mile to help her, and Brad William Henke in a breakout role as a chronic masturbator fighting to be good, it's a powerful cast you wouldn't expect to see in a movie that was born to have a red band trailer.

The extras list is long, but in the end doesn't add up to a lot. There's a more or less typical commentary with Sam Rockwell and screenwriter/director Clark Gregg (who is also hilarious as Lord High Charlie, the Colonial mayor). As usual, it slips into shout-outs and "remember that?" but there are some funny anecdotes, like the cow that followed the milkmaid around, and how it feels to write a line about stalking a tranny hooker for your father-in-law (especially when he's an Oscar-winner).

There are five deleted scenes, and the first three don't add much. But the last two are different versions of Victor being called to account by his victims, who've finally found out that their proudest moment, saving his life, was just a scam. Either would have made a more satisfying ending (and it's what appears in the book). There's also an obligatory 90-second gag reel, which manages to be completely laugh-free.

More interesting is a short discussion between Gregg and the author. (Palahniuk says there were just two things he wanted: "Don't change the ending, and don't leave out the hypnosis part." Both are gone.) The conversation's a little stiff, but it does show some of what Palahniuk thinks about his story, and a lot of what Gregg does. Still, clocking in at just over 10 minutes, it's hardly a must-see.

A 15-minute making of featurette blends interviews with footage from the movie, but most of the analysis is pretty clear from the film. If you've seen the movie you don't need to watch it, and if you haven't it gives away the twists. Then another 5-minute featurette takes on the relationship between Victor and his mother, but feels like a promo piece aimed at getting people to see the movie rather than adding anything for the people who just sat through it.

There are 4 minutes of clips from a Q&A at the L.A. Film Festival with Gregg and Palahniuk with some interesting insight, but this is easily the biggest missed opportunity. Why not include the whole thing? Finally, an episode of Fox Movie Channel's Casting Call devoted to Choke gives 10 minutes of behind-the-camera decisions, probably the best of the bunch for people who're interested in how movies get put together.

If you missed Choke the first time around it should be on your rental list, you won't see anything else quite like it. But while hardcore fans will definitely want it in their collections, even they'll feel let down by the quantity-over-quality extras.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us