When going to see the film Choke, one should be ready for two things: an insane plot and tons of naked women. I guess that’s expected from a movie about a sex addict who purposely chokes on food so strangers will save his life.

If you’ve heard anything about this movie, it was probably because it’s the second movie to be adapted from a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club. While there are a few things that do seem reminiscent of Fight Club, this movie is kind of the opposite. The main difference is that this is meant to be a small indie film with no big budget or stars, and while it’s not a masterpiece, Choke is still good. Also, there’s no Brad Pitt to swoon over; everyone in this film is really ugly.

Sam Rockwell stars in this movie as Victor Mancini, a sarcastic jerk who is addicted to sex. And when I say addicted, I mean at least half the film is of him having sex. He goes to support groups for sex addicts, but that’s mainly to meet and have sex with other addicts. Along with his sex problem, Victor is struggling to support his hospitalized mother by working as a re-enactor at a Colonial village. But he doesn’t earn enough money from this job, so he gets the rest of his income from choking in restaurants. Victor has figured out that if someone saves your life, they will love you forever—and he uses this love to get people to send him money. Then there’s Paige (Kelly Macdonald), the doctor who treats Victor’s mom, and whom Victor may actually like. But since Victor’s mom was always stealing him back from foster families when he was young, there is no way Victor can commit to a woman. And finally, Victor’s best friend (and chronic masturbator) Denny (Brad William Henke) oddly enough serves as the voice of reason in the film. Oh—and there may be a chance that Victor is the clone half-son of Jesus Christ.

So, maybe the plot is crazy, but the film is done well enough so that it never gets confusing. And though it has many different sub-plots, the film successfully presents a funny yet thoughtful story of dysfunctional people and the pathetic (or not-so?) lives they live. One thing that was instrumental in accomplishing this was the cast. They all do a perfect job at being different shades of horrible, yet still show enough emotion for the audience to sympathize with them.

Of course the film does have some problems, though. Even though it’s only an hour and a half, the film seems too slow at parts, and there are flashbacks thrown in that don’t effectively connect to the story. And as dark as this movie was, the ending seemed a little too much like a feel-good Hollywood ending. These problems are the fault of actor-turned-director Clark Gregg. This was the first movie he’s directed, and his lack of experience is noticeable.

Overall, this movie is worth seeing, even though it does have at least four naked women over 50 in it. Palahniuk has a knack for writing the absurd, and it’s a wonder that only two of his novels have been made into films.