Choke also fails in its attempt to marry satirical, black comedy with serious, true-to-life issues. The film doesn’t know quite how to merge the two and it ends up veering sharply from one to the other without much thought to whether it comes off well for the viewer. It’s jarring and not in a good way, and therefore a bit of a confusing watch. One moment Rockwell is narrating to us about the latest woman he’s slept with and the next he’s crying when he finds out his past may not be exactly what he thought it was. In the segments where it concentrates on the black comedy, although certainly not as sharp-edged as one would like, it’s devilishly funny (in particular a scene where a woman wants him to “act” a certain way before she’ll sleep with him). It's these scenes which make the film an enjoyable experience that entertains in spite of its flaws.
Although one of the central elements of Choke is the main character’s addiction to sex (similarly to Fight Club he visits numerous discussion groups about it) there’s nothing overtly shocking that happens on-screen. It’s enough to gain it the 18 age rating (R in the US) but it’s the kind of thing we’ve seen a million times before. It's perhaps done a bit more frequently here and with a slightly more comedic edge to it.
The film’s conclusion it isn’t as emotionally affecting as the film thinks it is. This is because of a failure to engage us with the characters throughout; we are merely observing, chuckling and cringing at the goings-on rather than actually feeling something for anyone. This, along with the unsuccessful attempt to translate the original story to the big screen, hinders Choke from being anything more than a throwaway, albeit entertaining, exercise.
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