More Reviews of Choke

I went to an advance screening of the movie and I thought that the movie, more or less, portrayed the "gist" if the story. I'm not the type to think that movies will ever portray a book with absolute detail or loyalty. That would be impossible. But I will say that I left the theater with an itch. A lurking suspicion that something wasn't quite right; and about 20 minutes of contemplation brought me to the answer.
Why did I like Fight Club (movie)? Even though it cut out most of the "love story" aspect of the novel, and in so doing, limited the development of Marla Singer's character, it held true to the style Chuck writes within. Semi-flow of consciousness with an incessant attention to minute, somewhat unrelated, details. (I.E. Food Service Terrorism, Bomb making). These elements add a level of realism to the overall story. The choppy narration gives the viewer/reader the feeling of anxiety necessary to properly digest the story. Because, it seems, that something is not quite right with the Narrators life, his relationships, and his job. Everything seemed to play into that feeling of Existential Anxiety.
I found this missing in Choke (movie). The book was abundant with little necessary, uncomfortable stream of consciousness elements that took you, not only into the life and mind of a sex addict, but into their heart, their very being. Every thought is about the next 'fix', how it will feel, how it will happen. It seemed that the movie told the story, but I didn't get the same feeling from it because it was missing the details. (i.e. The litany of positions from the Kama Sutra while fucking the yoga instructor in the airplane bathroom) There were a few parts that contained it, but there didn't seem to be a consistent string of this element to constitute a theme. (for example, we did get to see a snippit of Ida instructing Victor about the 'secret codes' in public places; the movie does begin with the 'urban legends') I would have liked to hear a little naration about "(blank) isn't the right word, but it is the first that comes to mind."
The absence of these types of literary elements took some of the darkness and depth out of the movie that made Fight Club such a cult classic. I even heard a girl say, after the movie was over, "I didn't get that that ass bead got stuck in his ass. When did that happen?" She had obviously not read that book, and some of the darkness of his addiction was lost to her because this element of the story was not properly presented.

I will say, however, that I did find the movie to be darkly comedic, quite entertaining, and definitely worth my time seeing. I will most likely buy it when it comes out on DVD. That's my 2 cents.

victor is so good looking.

It's a good movie, but it should have been more like the book.

Not a single 'for reals' or 'for serious.' That made me sad.

okay, yeah. I just rented Choke from ondemand last night, and I don't think I could've understood it as well if I hadn't read the book.

the movie seemed bland and just blunt compared to the book.
the movie was hardly that long, I just thought they did a very cop-out job on it.
but yeah, it was good for the most part.
They didn't really change much which was a surprise, but I think the movie could've been a BIT more detailed with some of the major things that happened throughout the book. it was just a lazy movie, I think.

I thought Sam Rockwell did really well in portraying Victor's unique personality, however.

I thought this movie was wonderful. the only thing I didn't like was the ending. that was the best part of the book. Sam Rockwell is my favorite actor and thought he brought every aspect of victor that I imagined in the book to the screen.

Must agree.
My friends and I have began the habit of saying "for serious" very often, and I was extremely disappointed in not hearing that phrase.

Anyway. Before viewing the film, I took the advice I read in one of the interviews about not reading the book for X amount of months (I went without for 2) before watching the movie, and watching it as a completely independant media (not comparing it to the book until it finsihed). [[I took this movie this seriosuly]].
Overall, I think it was a very admirable attempt. This is probably one of the most complicated books to put into film, especially trying not to break the border of R into X or whatever. I think they had the perfect amount of sex scenes, anymore would've been odorous, any less and it wouldn't have been enough.

As far as actor choice? Denny was completely perfect. [[1 of my fave scenes was Denny pulling Victor away from Lord High Charlie <3]]
Victor? I think it could have been someone else, but he did do a nice job. ((my friends and I imagagined Victor a bit cuter than Sam Rockwell))
Ida? Definately not a fan of her. Her acting was good, but too good to play a dying elder. She was supposed to be disappearing, not walking around outside or meeting him in the hallway to hug him. She was supposed to be disinigrating underneath the sheets - this mood wasn't implied in the film.
And Paige? I didn't see anything wrong with her. Except, they were NEVER supposed to have sex ((until the cliffhanger ending)). My friend and I agreed that Victor entering her in the chapel, should NOT have happened, was not in the book.

Other than that, not too any complaints. Other than the ending. I was not impressed. The rock formation, was supposed to be the ending - it was the most romantic thing that could have ever been, all 4 of them working together to repair what was broken? Amazing ending - the director's opinion on ending was extremely flawed.
And, the bus scene with Victor and his mother, should have been emblished more (my favorite part of the book besides the ending).
My friend thought the hypnosis scene should have at least been mentioned. Very comedic, and not even brushed upon.

But, again, an admirable attempt, and I know I couldn't have done better. ((except for that damn ending >.<))