INT: Chuck Palahniuk

When Chuck Palahnuik writes a character, it always feels like someone you may know, but not someone you’ve seen before. He takes these unique and fascinating (sometimes sickening) men and women and weaves a story around their life. CHOKE is certainly a good example of this. Victor Mancini is a womanizing sex addict, who is also a con-man with a day job reenacting history. Bizarre? Yes. But interesting none the less. If you love FIGHT CLUB, you are in for a big surprise here. While still not lacking that sense of Palahnuik’s novel, CHOKE is directed by Clark Gregg (who also wrote the screenplay) as a dark comedy with a strong sense of sympathy for Mancini.

Sitting across from both Palahnuik and Gregg was a very pleasant experience. I appreciate what Chuck had to say about his work. And I also appreciated hearing Clark’s take. CHOKE is really a tale of a son who has no idea of how to relate to his unstable mother. A surprisingly sensitive tale of self-discovery. And if you’d like to check out CHOKE, a few of you will be able to this coming Friday when it opens in limited release.