review: Chasing Amy (1997)

There are some directors that I’m really into, like Michel Gondry, Wes Anderson and Tim Burton… however there are far more directors that I really have no particular thoughts on either way, I’ve seen a good few of their films but I’m still ambivalent. Paul Thomas Anderson is one – which I noted in the There Will Be Blood review – the Coen Brothers, Wong Kar Wai, Spike Jonze… I’ll watch their films and enjoy them but to be honest I just don’t see anything in particular about them that makes me think “Wow, that’s a good director!”. Kevin Smith is another one, I’ve seen a few Kevin Smith films. They’re fine.

Chasing Amy is one of Kevin Smith’s earlier films. It’s basically a love story between comic book writers. Or if you want to be a bit more deep about it, it’s about relationships. Ben Affleck and Jason Lee star as best friends, Holden and Banky, who write a cult comic book together – Bluntman and Chronic. All is well on the comic con circuit until Holden (Affleck) meets a woman who rocks his world (Alyssa, played by Joey Lauren Adams). Unfortunately for him, she’s a lesbian with quite a past. Fortunately for him, lesbian thing is negotiable. Anyway, the film looks at the way the relationships between all the characters change, Holden and Banky, Holden and Alyssa, Alyssa and her friends.

Actually it’s quite interesting, there’s a certain realism to it, it does make you wonder what you would do if it happened to you and it’s not your typical Hollywood romantic comedy / drama. I liked the dialogue and I liked how the different relationships were treated different, I liked that the characters were normal people leading normal lives. On the other hand I did think it was a bit melodramatic in parts, there were a couple of scenes where I did think “Are you kidding??”. Also I don’t think it was as clever as it thought it was, but then again that’s not really a fair comment. First of all it’s eleven years old and secondly, what do I know about how clever Kevin Smith thought he was being…? but in any case, it was the impression I was left with.

All in all I did enjoy the film, it was a nice little satisfying package, few laughs, bit of a distraction for two hours. However, like other Kevin Smith films, I didn’t really better for watching it. It was fine.

Oh yeah, I thought Jay and Silent Bob were very funny in it. Also, I learned a new definition of finger cuff.

7/10