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Capsule review: ‘Choke’
“Choke,” an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s cult novel, made its regional premiere last night at the Paramount. Who knew sexual addiction could be this funny?
Victor Mancini, played to smarmy perfection by Sam Rockwell, is instantly likable despite his penchant for picking up women at Sexaholic Anonymous meetings and perpetrating a well-rehearsed scam on unsuspecting restaurant patrons. Director and screenwriter Clark Gregg casts Victor as the classic “cad-with-a heart-of-gold” whose true motive is to keep his senile mother, played by Angelica Huston, in an expensive assisted living center long enough to discover the true nature of his lineage.
Fans of the book will no doubt miss Palahniuk’s darker, more disturbing depiction of sexual addiction, but Gregg’s aim here is to milk the disorder for its obvious comic value, not brood over its consequences. “Choke” clips along with a sitcom-like pacing that sets up some big laughs early on, but ultimately fails to wring any sincerity out of Victor’s redemption
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