Despite efforts to impart a little tension and human interest, the tale is told with such discretion, it’s almost anonymous.
Comment
11/14/08
Choking Man (2007)
36
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:11
Fresh:4
Rotten:7
Average Rating:4.7/10
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
1 - 10 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top CriticThere’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 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 CriticSome 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 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 CriticClick to read the article
11/14/08
Top CriticOverburdened with disorienting stylistic devices and contrived plot elements that reduce the psychological depth to which it aspires.
11/28/07
Top CriticChoking 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 CriticChoking Man is harsh and intermittently affecting but oppressively contrived and mostly pointless.
11/09/07
Top CriticBarron 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.
12/30/06
Top Critic1 - 10 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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