Choke
Cast & Crew
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Director
Clark Gregg -
Writer
Chuck Palahniuk -
Writer
Clark Gregg
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Ida Mancini
Anjelica Huston -
Denny
Brad William Henke -
Paige Marshall
Kelly Macdonald -
Victor Mancini
Sam Rockwell
Synopsis
Actor-turned-director Clark Gregg shows he is as adept behind the camera as he is in front of it with CHOKE, a wickedly colorful dark comedy about mothers and sons, sexual compulsion, and the sordid underbelly of Colonial theme parks. Victor Mancini (Rockwell), a sex-addicted med-school dropout, who keeps his increasingly deranged mother, Ida (Huston), in an expensive private medical hospital by working days as a historical reenactor at a Colonial Williamsburg theme park. At night Victor runs a scam by deliberately choking in upscale restaurants to form parasitic relationships with the wealthy patrons who “save” him. When, in a rare lucid movement, Ida reveals that she has withheld the shocking truth of his father’s identity, Victor enlists the aid of his best friend, Denny (Henke) and his mother’s beautiful attending physician, Dr. Paige Marshall (Macdonald), to solve the mystery before the truth of his possibly divine parentage is lost forever.
Latest from Choke
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Choke on DVD
Published on: February 11, 2009Choke is now out on DVD. Choke tells the story of Rockwell (Snow Angels) who plays Victor Mancini, a con man who regularly ditches his sex addiction meetings to hook up with the girl (Paz del la Huerta) he's sponsoring in the group. In between shifts at a colonial reenactment village, Victor goes to restaurants and pretends to choke on food, enlisting strangers to rescue him and later send him money. And occasionally he visits his mother Ida (Anjelica Huston), who has been institutionalized for mental illness. But when he meets a young doctor named Paige Marshall (Kelly Macdonald) who offers an unlikely solution to help repair his mother's fractured mind, Victor begins to reconsider his duplicitous, self-destructive lifestyle.
The DVD includes:
- Commentary with Director Clark Gregg and Sam Rockwell
- A Conversation with Clark Gregg and Chuck Palahniuk
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
Gregg and Rockwell deliver an insightful, honest and extremely mellow commentary as they softly offer their observations on the filming of the adaptation. These are smart guys, unafraid of the process and always willing to talk about why something didn't work, or worked tremendously well, and Gregg, as the film's writer, does an admirable job discussing the arduous tasking of adapting such a rich, strange and complex novel for the screen.
The 15-minute conversation between Gregg and Palahniuk is made more interesting due largely to Palahniuk's legitimate interest in what Gregg took away from the novel. Eschewing all evidence of possessiveness, Palahniuk seems fascinated by the process of adaptation and clearly captivated by Gregg's creative and editorial choices. The deleted and extended scenes are fairly forgettable with the exception of the "rock house" conclusion, which gets a great explanation in Gregg and Rockwell's additional commentary. The gag reel is easily dismissible, as well. Overall, however, the real substance is the commentary and the conversation.
- Commentary with Director Clark Gregg and Sam Rockwell
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Sam Rockwell on "Choke"
Published on: October 2, 2008CraveOnline catches up with "Choke" star Sam Rockwell. Rockwell talks about tackling his character as a sex addict which included attending sex addiction meetings, documentaries, and reading the book. Rockwell says he likes the fact that "Choke" was not shown in some theaters due to its sexual content. "Choke" stars Sam Rockwell, Brad William Henke, Kelly Macdonald and Anjelica Huston.
"...I like that. That means we did something right. It's a romantic comedy. It's just a couple of breasteses. We showed the ass. I show my ass. That movie's so tame compared to the book..."
Read the full interview here.
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Interview: Sam Rockwell masters addiction, redemption in ‘Choke’
Published on: October 1, 2008The Chicago Film Examiner has interviewed Sam Rockwell, who stars as Victor Mancini in "Choke". Rockwell talks about relating to his character in terms of breaking boundaries and shares his thoughts on Victor's sex addiction, and how serious the disorder really is. Rockwell also dishes on working with Kelly MacDonald and his penchant for playing odd and dark characters.
"...I like darker characters. I like playing bad guys. I think I’m drawn to them because those were the characters I liked from the movies when I was growing up. I liked ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and ‘The Deer Hunter’..."
Read the full article here.
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Choke Director Clark Gregg Takes Us Back to His Hotel Room
Published on: September 30, 2008Film School Rejects catches up with "Choke" writer and director Clark Gregg. Gregg has been flying around the past few weeks promoting his new film which he describes as a "punk romantic comedy". Gregg talks about battling financing and the faith "Choke" author Chuck Palahniuk had in him. Gregg also praises the cast and crew, in particular Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston.
"...Sam was kind of Chuck [Palahniuk]’s alter-ego...he was easy through the whole process. No one could complain…because Sam wasn’t complaining.."
Read the full article here.
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Creep Show: Sam Rockwell
Published on: September 26, 2008The New York Times has interviewed Sam Rockwell about his latest role as Victor in "Choke". Rockwell tells The New York Times how closely "Choke" was adapted from the book, and that fans can expect a faithful interpretation of Palahniuk's work. Rockwell also discusses the comic relief and dirty sex scenes.
"...Sex addiction is a funny way to explore the theme, but it’s really about intimacy and what keeps us from intimacy. You know, how can we integrate intimacy and eroticism? People compartmentalize those things, and that’s where you end up with someone like Victor..."
Read the full interview here.
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Sam Rockwell Talks About "Choke"
Published on: September 25, 2008About.com chats with "Choke" star Sam Rockwell who plays Victor Mancini, a sexaholic with mother issues. Rockwell shares what he did to prepare for the role, which included attending five or six sex addict meetings. Rockwell discusses what drew him to "Choke", the sex scenes and whats next for the 40 year old actor. Choke is released nationwide October 3rd.
"...Sex scenes are just kind of silly. You've got these women coming in for a day. You just want to make them feel comfortable. It's a weird job so you try to tell a joke and keep it relaxed..."
Read the full interview here.
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Exclusive Interview with Clark Gregg on "Choke"
Published on: September 24, 2008About.com has recently interviewed "Choke" director, Clark Gregg. Gregg talks about his directorial debut and why he chose "Choke" as his project. Although the movie took 6 years to adapt from the book, Gregg still feels he had to cut out a lot of his favorite scenes from the book. Gregg also talks about the financing and adaption of the book, also named, "Choke"
"...I read it and I said, 'No, I will only do this if I can do everything, if it could become like an ego-paloosa. I can write and direct and act in it.' And they kind of looked at me funny. And then they didn’t really own the option until I paired them up with someone who could get money and I made it happen, so they kind of had no choice..."
Read the full interview here.
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New film has Anjelica all choked up
Published on: September 19, 2008Metro Canada has caught up with "Choke" star Anjelica Huston. Huston talks about co-star Sam Rockwell, and author Chuck Palahniuk, who wrote the novel in which "Choke" is based on. Huston plays the role of Ida Mancini, mother of Victor Mancini (Rockwell), a sex addicted med-school dropout. As the story progresses, we learn that Ida has withheld shocking truth about his father which pushes Victor to solve the mystery once and for all. The film also stars Brad William Henke and Kelly MacDonald.
"...I think so much of Chuck’s work is about love. It’s a demented kind of love..."
Read the full article here.
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Choke gets hold as Raindance opener
Published on: September 3, 2008The Hollywood Reported has posted an article on 'Choke'. Directed by Clark Gregg, the film is an adaptation of the novel by Chuck Palahniuk starring Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, and Kelly Macdonald. It will open this year's Raindance Film Festival, which runs from October first until the twelfth in London.
Read the full article here.
Find out more about the Raindance Film Festival.
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Radiohead Score New Film Based on Palahniuk's Choke
Published on: August 13, 2008Pitchfork has posted an article on the film 'Choke'. Adapted from Chuck Palahniuk's latest novel the film is directed by Clark Gregg. Radiohead was approached to contribute a song to the soundtrack.
"...Apparently Radiohead liked the movie so much, they've written the score, most of the ambient music throughout it. So it's 'Choke-- with the music of Radiohead'..."
Read the full article here.
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