Choke

Choke (2008)
Written by Clark Gregg, Chuck Palanhiuk (book)
Directed by Clark Gregg
Starring Sam Rockwell, Kelly Macdonald, Angelica Houston, Brad William Henke

Synopsis
Dealing with a shitty job and a mother with dementia, a sex addict (who's about as on the wagon as I am with food right now) scams extra cash by legitimately choking and letting people "adopt " him after they've saved him.  He meets a new doctor at his mother's home and some interesting, atypical things happen.

Woman
i am an enormous palahniuk fan, and sometimes when you've read a book it's hard to see a movie adaptation for what it is instead of what it's missing. this isn't to say i didn't like this movie. i'm just not sure how i objectively i can critique it. i have a hard time unblending what i know about the plot and what was actually portrayed in the movie. sam rockwell was indeed the perfect cast in this role. he did phenomenal. it was also wonderful to watch a plot i haven't seen reenacted 2.3 gajillion times before. that's why i love palahniuk so much. his stories are dark, and funny, full of unanticipated plot movement, and almost all are despicable characters. i would definitely recommend.

MOster
This was good and entertaining. I found myself literally on the edge of my seat for the last 15 minutes or so because not having read the book I had no idea how things were going to turn out.  The story on screen was tight and well paced.  There were few scenes or shots that did nothing to advance the plot or the character development.  This truly is a story of a person developing and it does a good job of showing how difficult that development is and how the relatively small changes he makes end up having a positive impact on his life.

The tightness of the story translates through to the process of bringing the production to the screen.  Direction was clear, showing different types of actions in slightly-varied ways.  I especially liked the way his imaginings of the women with their shirts off were integrated seamlessly into the longer shots of them with their clothes on.  Blah blah MOster blah everything was pretty and looked like it fit in the same universe.  Another interesting thing about this movie is that while it's about sex I think the sex itself was largely PG-13 while the language is what made it an R. 

Casting here was perfect for the story.  Sam Rockwell did very well in both acting and emoting, to the point where his usually-grating smirk and sometimes-annoying voice made Victor a three-dimensional character.  I've had a love for Kelly Macdonald since Trainspotting and she didn't disappoint me here, either.  She plays the calm, reserved doctor very well and she's just so damn CUTE (but in a very sexy way).  Angelica Houston doesn't need critiquing by the likes of me; and the dude who played the best friend was another fully-realized character with whom it was easy to empathize despite his particular sex addiction.

This is a solid four, and we see far too few of those.