Choking Man

Dealing with chronic shyness on film is problematic, not least because your character keeps his mouth shut. Ecuadorian expat in America, Jorge (Octavio Gomez) is no exception, moving silently through his daily routine of pot-washing, floor-scrubbing and mooning over pretty waitress Amy (Eugenia Yuan).

Irish director Steve Barron, the creative mind behind projects as diverse as A-Ha’s ‘Take on Me’ video and shabby Ricky Tomlinson vehicle ‘Mike Bassett: England Manager’, attempts to circumvent Jorge’s social problem through animation, filling the screen with bunnies, line-drawn buildings and figures taken from public safety posters intended to illustrate his character’s inner life. It never works. 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. In the end neither element satisfies, and all that’s left are a few nice moments with some intriguing, unexplored characters.