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MOVIES / ON DVD / CHOKING MAN
Choking Man

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Choking Man (2007)

38%
25%
0%
N/A
N/A
N/A
38 %
Reviews Counted: 13 Fresh: 5  Rotten:8 Average Rating: 4.8/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 84 mins

Synopsis: Set in New York's Jamaica, Queens, CHOKING MAN illustrates the neighborhood's rich diversity. Ecuadorian immigrant Jorge (Octavio Gómez Berríos) washes dishes at a local diner, where he connects with a Chinese woman (Eugenia Yuan) and shies away from his bully of a coworker (Aaron Paul).... Set in New York's Jamaica, Queens, CHOKING MAN illustrates the neighborhood's rich diversity. Ecuadorian immigrant Jorge (Octavio Gómez Berríos) washes dishes at a local diner, where he connects with a Chinese woman (Eugenia Yuan) and shies away from his bully of a coworker (Aaron Paul). Mandy Patinkin costars as the owner of the diner. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Octavio Gómez Berríos, Eugenia Yuan, Aaron Paul, Mandy Patinkin

Director: Steve Barron
Screenwriter: Steve Barron
Producer: Zachary Mortensen, Joshua Zeman

DVD Info

Release:

May 8, 2008

[DVD Details]
  • The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this intense blend of drama and magical realism from famed music video director Steve Barron. Newcomer Octavio Gomez Berrios gives a quietly effective performance in the "title" role. Also starring Mandy Patinkin.
  • Source: Film Movement
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    1 - 13 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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    N/A

    Overburdened with disorienting stylistic devices and contrived plot elements that reduce the psychological depth to which it aspires.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/28/07
    Frank Scheck
    Hollywood Reporter
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    Ratings Image
    3/4

    In this case, what looks like an ambitious film-school project, complete with heavy-handed sincerity, experimental camera style, and an overplayed central metaphor, becomes gently lyrical and melancholy.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/26/07
    Tasha Robinson
    Chicago Tribune
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    N/A

    For all its enticing dramatic hooks, Choking Man has a fairly unrewarding conclusion.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/09/07
    Eric Kohn
    New York Press
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    2.5/4

    Barron's direction is low-key but efficient.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/09/07
    V.A. Musetto
    New York Post
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    2/4

    The movie suffocates under the weight of too many wrong choices.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/09/07
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    New York Daily News
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    N/A

    [Barron] has made Jorge so deeply withdrawn that you are unable to really feel anything for him other than a blind pity, which is decidedly not the stuff of compelling dramaturgy.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/09/07
    David Noh
    Film Journal International
    Ratings Image
    2.5/5

    Choking Man mainly falters in its inability to reconcile the darker psychological elements of Jorge's mind and all that they portend.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/09/07
    Kevin Crust
    Los Angeles Times
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    2/5

    Choking Man is harsh and intermittently affecting but oppressively contrived and mostly pointless.

    comment Comment
    11/09/07
    Matt Zoller Seitz
    New York Times
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    2.5/4

    The film looks so good it could play without sound.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/08/07
    John Anderson
    Newsday
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    N/A

    ... wants to take us into Jorge's mind, though a less interesting and pleasant place would be hard to imagine.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/08/07
    Andy Klein
    Los Angeles CityBeat
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    N/A

    I can think of no earthly reason why this well-made and thoroughly charming New York indie drama from writer-director Steve Barron has been languishing in limbo for two years.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/08/07
    Andrew O'Hehir
    Salon.com
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    1.5/4

    If there is finally a point to the film it is that we're all human piñatas and that putting sprinkles in your fish soup may not be tasty, but it makes one's upchuck look pretty. I think.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    11/04/07
    Ed Gonzalez
    Slant Magazine
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    N/A

    Barron executes all the hard stuff remarkably well: vivid ensemble thesping, evocative locales and even unforced Catholic symbolism. But his high-concept protagonist is so introverted he projects a void at the film's center.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    12/30/06
    Ronnie Scheib
    Variety
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