Wednesday night I managed to slip into the free screening of Chuck Palahniuk's latest book gone movie; Choke. The screening was down at the Shattuck Theatres in Berkeley where all sorts of good movies and good free things happen. Knowing that I'm a big fan of Chuck's books, my friend Jessica had alerted me to the event and gave me the free ticket flyer. I dropped in at the theatre after work and after securing my 1970's women's Raleigh bike with its protruding front tire tube nipple ready to blow at any moment to a bike rack I found myself in a long line already starting to make the snakey stretch around the front of the building. The bright pink flyer is worth two tickets, so I laid in wait for Jessica and her friend to show up. I some how found a position in line between a bunch of Berkeley undergrad film students, whose biggest concern in life or at least the little section of it I was exposed to was whether or their TA is gay or if he just likes to wear tight pants because he's really into German. It was a bit awkward, like as if in a movie. I've got Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" spread open in front of me like a good little book nerd and I've got these two girl gesticulating over the pages such that hands occasionally come into my reading frame about who they would like fuck, whether or not they like to give head or maybe its ok if its reciprocated. Most of those hard to grabble with things that sophomores studying film are ready to engage, were engaged basically over the top and through me. It was hard not to crack a smile and I tried diligently until I just gave up and asked if the girls behind me would like to squeeze forward. A few moments later Jessica found me in line and she went back on got her friend and they both joined me in line. When we got to the front of the line we only had one flyer, so J ran back and was able to scavenge another one from deep in the line. We got our tickets and then they stopped letting people through. We thought for sure that more would be coming, but we were the last of the last, besides a stoner girl who talked her way in right behind us.
Anyone familiar with Chuck's books is familiar with his cantor, with his usual construction techniques; fast moving plots with quirky characters and usually revolving around some sort of sub culture and how it interacts with the dominant culture. If you've seen "Fight Club" you've got the basics. David Fincher practically took that book right out of the pages onto the screen. There are of course things that get left out, but all through out the movie, Ed Norton says something and you can remember reading it verbatim in the written text. Choke follows this general translation. Anyone that has read Choke though also realizes that making a G rated film would be impossible, a R rated film difficult, and a XXX rated film doable. Through some great frame selection and other techniques used by Clark Gregg the movie comes across well in the R rated format. And yes the first scene is Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) giving it to Miko in the bathroom of the sex addicts anonymous meeting, so just like fight club the movie starts off at a running pace and with the first scene capturing essence of the entire movie. In Fight Club its Ed Norton's anonymous anti-hero protagonist's firing axons leading you to eventually his mouth and Tyler Durden's gun, one groveling and one beaming with confidence. In that single moment the plot essence is captured; the struggle from within between these two personalities. Choke's opening scene is like wise encapsulating of the plot; Victor at a SAA meeting boning a girl on the floor wondering about where he came from.
Overall I would say the movie is a 8 out of 10. It easily will hit cult status because of the use of sex. The acting was good in places and awkward in others. Sam Rockwell nails Victor Mancini, but I wasn't as impressed with Angelica Houston or with Kelly McDonald. The edits were a little sharp in places where you could see a little bit of a line change. But overall it's a movie worth seeing. Worth having a good laugh. You'll walk away with a new found love of the word "poodle" and a some good laughs, but unlike Fight Club you wont get the philosophical itch in your soul when you leave. I think it could have been possible with the movie, but it would have required a lot more meta-textual dialogue, similar to what Ed Norton pulls off in Fight Club. Some of the critical items I bring up are partly due to the low budget of the film. They could only afford 25 days of shooting, which is really really short. Sam Rockwell was at the screening and he did some QA afterwards and it was great to see the audience not be able to detach him from the character. People were asking for mustache rides, willing to give free hand jobs etc. I'm sure this is part of the joy of doing this in Berkeley, especially when his girlfriend and father were in the audience.
Overall worth seeing.
On my wish list for movies they would make from Chuck's Books:
Survivor - great potential for critical eye on religion and lots of humor
Rant - would be great for shooting in non-linear, jumpy, indie fashion, with a dark sci-fi feel to it.
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