Comments on: Don’t Hold Your Breath: Chuck Palahniuk’s Choke [PART 2]

By: Dead C

Dead C — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:27:44 +0000

Thanks for commenting. I’ve gotten a lot of shit for this review for people that refuse to accept reality on other sites. I feel that I would be doing a disservice to readers and creators if I sugar coat something that I feel is garbage.

The most common protests that I hear refer to the idea that they worked with what they had, as far as time and finances, and that a screenplay is supposed to be a different animal than a book. My response to that is that they took what I liked out and replaced it with shit that I didn’t and that if you can’t make it right don’t touch it at all. I was trying to review a film, I don’t think that anyone should have to review a film with the constant restriction of having to factor in how it was produced because, if it’s well made, the actual production should be the last thing that you are aware of while watching it.

I really do appreciate your open minded and thoughtful response. I would even have appreciated a negative one as long as it was thought out as yours was and not fueled by defensiveness like so many others. You’ve obviously seen the film and my guess is that you probably found a few blindly positive reviews of the film already on line. I actually wrote this for you and other people like myself who felt the same way and were tired of reading reviews that they knew were bullshit.

thanks again

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:56:35 +0000

I think your review summed up the movie perfectly. It took an amazing book with dynamic characters, an amazing plot line, and a psychological mind trip and destroyed it in somewhat of an hour. Clark Gregg misinterpreted the book so much, it felt like he read a quick summary of the book and then wrote a shitty screenplay; or, even worse, he read it but couldn’t grasp the depth and symbolism the book had to offer. The movie was a disappointment all around.

Not only were the characters static though out the whole movie, but they were vastly changed. For example, Page was not a med school dropout, she was from the future and needed Victor’s sperm so she could take it to the future with her. That is why it was a surprise at the end when no one could find her a the hospital because she was supposed to return to her future. I also agree with Dead C. when he states that the depiction of Denny was obliterated in the movie. All in all this movie was a waste of time and I am disgusted that it won anything at all. Clark Gregg should be chastised for this abomination.

This movie does not reflect Chuck Palahniuck as a writer. I truly hope anyone who has seen the movie has either read the book first to see what a terrible adaptation this was or will read the book shortly after to make sense of that mess.

Thank you Dead C. for writing a wonderful, honest, and quite humorous review.

Lyn-z S.

By: Observations from Missy’s Window » Movie Monday “Thing, you’re a handful.”

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:04:15 +0000

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