Hank Sartin Time Out Nov 18, 2011 3/5

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Jul 9, 2009 B

Low-key indie.

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Anton Bitel Little White Lies Nov 16, 2008

For all its concern with social and mental disintegration, Choking Man is a strangely tender film.

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Trevor Johnston Film4 Nov 14, 2008 3/5

There'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.

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James Christopher The Times (UK) Nov 14, 2008 3/5

The creepy and original power of the film is the schizophrenic other who taunts him when he finally crawls home to his maggoty bedsit. Weird.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Nov 14, 2008 1/5

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.

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Sukhdev Sandhu Daily Telegraph (UK) Nov 14, 2008

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.

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Tim Evans Sky Cinema Nov 14, 2008 2/5

It'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.

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Christopher Tookey Daily Mail (UK) Nov 14, 2008

They 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.

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Nigel Andrews Financial Times Nov 14, 2008

Modest, quirky, well acted by an unknown cast.

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Anthony Quinn Independent (UK) Nov 14, 2008 2/5

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.

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Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard Nov 14, 2008 3/5

It's not a bad effort at all - and certainly a whole class above Ninja Turtles.

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Matthew Turner ViewLondon Nov 14, 2008 3/5

Impressively directed drama with strong performances and a subtle script, though the tilt into magical realism doesn't quite work.

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Joshua Land Time Out Nov 13, 2008 3/6

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Don Willmott Filmcritic.com Aug 14, 2008 3.5/5

rises above the mundane with the inclusion of some gorgeous animated interludes and just a touch of Latin American-style magical realism.

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Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter Nov 28, 2007

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

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Tasha Robinson Chicago Tribune Nov 26, 2007 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.

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Eric Kohn New York Press Nov 9, 2007

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

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V.A. Musetto New York Post Nov 9, 2007 2.5/4

Barron's direction is low-key but efficient.

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Elizabeth Weitzman New York Daily News Nov 9, 2007 2/4

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

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