Victor Mancini, a medical-school dropout, is an antihero for our deranged times. Needing to pay elder care for his mother, Victor has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be "saved" by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor's life, go on to send checks to support him. When he's not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mom, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park. - skip ad -  Genres: Comedy, Drama, Crime/Gangster and Adaptation Running Time: 1 hr. 32 min. Release Date: September 26th, 2008 (wide) MPAA Rating: R for strong sexual content, nudity and language. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures Cast And Credits Starring: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly MacDonald, Brad William Henke, Joel Grey Directed by: Clark Gregg Produced by: Mike S. Ryan, Derrick Tseng, Gary Ventimiglia

Another quirky movie out of Sundance, "Choke" relies on an appreciation for characters who have no foundation in the real world.

The story of a sex addict (Sam Rockwell) and his deranged mother (Anjelica Huston), based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, the film is one part social satire and one part off-kilter love story. Some people will find the goings-on hilarious, while others will sit through it not cracking a smile. "Choke" presents a major marketing challenge for Fox Searchlight, which picked it up at the festival.

Rockwell's breezy and charming performance as Victor Mancini, a man with a raging libido, sparring with his eccentric mother Ida, now deteriorating in a mental hospital, almost carries the film, but not quite.

Much of the time, the action is so absurd that it ceases to have any meaning. The characters don't behave like anyone you have ever met, or are likely to meet. Even a fanciful conceit like this one has to be believable on an emotional level to have any impact.

Well-executed by actor-turned-writer-director Clark Gregg, "Choke" is all id. In an initially amusing bit that eventually becomes tiresome, Victor works at a colonial re-enactment theme park where he is constantly on the make with visitors and the aloof milkmaid Ursula (Bijou Phillips). As the self-proclaimed "backbone of colonial America," Victor gets to target some well-aimed barbs at ersatz history.

Not surprisingly, he doesn't take his job seriously. He is more concerned with visits to his mother, who usually mistakes him for her attorney Fred. A lifelong eccentric who is probably responsible for her son's random sex life, Ida alternately rescued and abandoned Victor to foster parents as we see in frequent flashbacks from his youth. On one excursion, she and her son broke into the city zoo, where Victor was mauled by a lynx. No wonder the lad is commitment shy.

In an opening narration at his Sex Addicts Anonymous group, Victor informs the audience "we're all here to dig through our own personal valise of perverse heartbreaking memories until we can find one that helps us to break the cycle." His mother's lovely young doctor (Kelly Macdonald) just might be the person to help. But then again she might be as nutty as Victor.

Victor's best friend Denny (Brad William Henke) is his partner in sexual compulsion until he falls for a stripper named Cherry Daquiri (Gillian Jacobs) and opts for domestic bliss. Victor might be too twisted for that, but in the end even someone as crazy as he is might get lucky in the pursuit of happiness.

"Choke" plays out like an extreme postmodern fairy tale, and occasionally when it catches the right tone it has the lightness and touch to make it fun. Rockwell's apparent flair for tongue-in-cheek comedy helps, and he makes a nice couple with the deadpan Macdonald. But for much of the way, the film just feels like it's pressing too hard to make an impression.