Modest, quirky, well acted by an unknown cast.
Comment
11/14/08
Choking Man (2007)
47
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:15
Rotten:17
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Quirky animated interludes fail to lift this dull US immigrant indie out of its introverted torpid state.
Runtime: 84 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:14-11-2008
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... [More]
Starring: Octavio Gómez Berríos, Eugenia Yuan, Aaron Paul, Mandy Patinkin
Director: Steve Barron
Reviews for Choking Man
For all its concern with social and mental disintegration, Choking Man is a strangely tender film.
11/16/08
Some US indie films are so torpid, so pointless and so incredibly whingey that you want to reach into the screen and slap the face of everyone involved. This film, by writer-director Steve Barron, is one such.
11/14/08
Top CriticThe creepy and original power of the film is the schizophrenic other who taunts him when he finally crawls home to his maggoty bedsit. Weird.
11/14/08
Top CriticIt's all a bit anonymous despite engaging performances, especially from Yuan as the sunny optimist, but the character of Jorge is so cripplingly introverted that there's nothing to latch on to.
11/14/08
There’s a low-key New York drama lurking somewhere, but Barron can’t seem to decide if he’s making that or something more flashy.
11/14/08
Top CriticThere's enough charm and enterprise here to win over viewers who have the patience to stick by the tongue-tied Jorge. An intriguing change of direction for pop-video pioneer Barron, though next time he might like to cut loose that bit more.
11/14/08
Top CriticIt’s not a bad effort at all — and certainly a whole class above Ninja Turtles.
11/14/08
It's meant to be a portrait of a man "choked" by his own alienation, but Jorge's shyness comes over as dullness, and after all the sensitive maundering the conclusion is a terrible letdown.
11/14/08
The film marries digicam naturalism to animated fantasy to oddsome but fascinating effect, rendering magical the inner world of the shy and almost muted Jorge. It's an unusual but valuable addition to the cinema of contemporary migration.
11/14/08
Top CriticThey don't add up to much; and he's just too passive to make us care even slightly about whether he gets the girl or ends up taking a meat-cleaver to his rival.
11/14/08
Impressively directed drama with strong performances and a subtle script, though the tilt into magical realism doesn't quite work.
11/14/08
Despite efforts to impart a little tension and human interest, the tale is told with such discretion, it’s almost anonymous.
11/14/08
Top CriticSteve Barron’s darkly melancholic, low-budget drama is worlds away from the blockbuster swagger of his earlier Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
11/14/08
Top CriticAfter more than an hour in Jorge’s relentlessly miserable company the voice in The Sneak’s head was saying “leave now”.
11/14/08
Top CriticClick to read the article
11/14/08
Top CriticThe film looks so good it could play without sound.
11/08/07
Choking Man mainly falters in its inability to reconcile the darker psychological elements of Jorge's mind and all that they portend.
11/09/07
Top CriticIf 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.
11/04/07
... wants to take us into Jorge's mind, though a less interesting and pleasant place would be hard to imagine.
11/08/07
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds