'Choke' review

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Sex-addict Victor (Sam Rockwell) works at a Colonial Williamsburg re-enactment theme park and fakes choking at restaurants so he can con people out of the money they offer after "saving his life." At least his intentions are good: The money funds treatment for his mom (Anjelica Huston), who's suffering from dementia and living in a constant care facility where Victor finally feels a shred of emotion for a concerned doctor (Kelly Macdonald of "No Country for Old Men").

Big question: Can writer-director Clark Gregg adapt Chuck Palahniuk's novel with the same freewheeling, stylistic daring as the last Palahniuk movie, David Fincher's "Fight Club"?

Catch it: Rockwell dives in with his usual bravado, lusting wildly after anything that moves while keeping his mom's interests close at hand. (Victor doesn't want her moved up to a more serious floor). Meanwhile "Choke" becomes a funny and demented love story about losing control, and how following your instincts can actually lead you to hide from what you really want.

Skip it: If you don't think it's possible to be a sex addict. If, like some of the characters in "Choke," you masturbate 15 times per day and picture everyone (including nuns) naked, you may want to at least examine your impulses.

Bottom line: Low-budget and pretty bland looking, "Choke" lacks energy and doesn't flow, stopping awkwardly whenever it needs to get serious. But it's not meant to seem real; this is a movie about strange people trying to find their way, no matter what anyone says is "normal."

Bonus: An exotic dancer (Gillian Jacobs) devises a brilliant solution when Victor tells her that blondes have a higher rate of skin cancer. She dyes her hair a different color!

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