The second film adaptation of a novel by cult author Chuck Palahniuk (the first was Fight Club), this is a typically dark slice of modish strangeness that aspires to be rudely funny, which it sometimes is, and profound, which it isn't. Victor (an appealingly weird Sam Rockwell) is a theme-park worker, sex-addict and conman, who fakes choking fits in expensive restaurants to extract money from those who "save" him and feel responsible for his wretched life. Most of this cash is spent on the care bills for his demented mother Ida (Anjelica Huston), who rarely recognises him but occasionally hints at possibly divine parentage. Things get more complicated for Victor when he becomes involved with Paige (Kelly Macdonald), a nurse who works in Ida's hospital. Loosely shot and for the most part nicely played this still doesn't amount to much more than a series of ribald sketches, capped by a misjudged sentimental tone towards the end.

A sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.