Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy, the third film in Kevin Smith's classic New Jersey trilogy (along with Clerks and Mallrats), just might be the best of the bunch. It packs Smith's usual envelope-pushing dialogue about sex, relationships, etc. and showcases some great comic performances. If you're feeling tired of boring Hollywood fare, Chasing Amy provides a refreshing slap in the face.
Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Bounce) plays Holden McNeil, a comic book artist who's still looking for the right woman. While attending a comic-book convention with his roommate and Bluntman & Chronic co-creator Banky (Jason Lee, Almost Famous), he meets Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), and they quickly hit it off. Holden is convinced that he's met future girlfriend material. However, there is one minor problem: She's lesbian, a fact that's conveyed in a hilarious bar scene.
After he gets over his initial shock concerning her lesbian preferences, Holden enters into a fast frienship with Alyssa. Their close bond is a source of tension between Holden and Banky, who believes that she's bad news (and perhaps is a bit jealous). As Holden and Alyssa's relationship becomes more intimate, he must also come to grips with her wild past. Whether or not you buy into the film's surprising resolution, there's no denying that it's a ballsy one.
Chasing Amy delivers numerous classic scenes, a pattern that's established right off the bat. While signing books at a comic-book convention, Banky becomes incensed at a man who calls him a tracer, setting off a fracas that ends with Lee yelling some hilariously harsh comments. Once Holden manages to calm him, they head to a minority panel where Hooper X (the highly amusing Dwight Ewell) is giving a militant speech on the role of blacks in comic books. Suffice it to say that the dialogue between Hooper, Holden and Banky is so hilarious that the scene required numerous takes because Affleck and Lee kept on breaking out laughing and couldn't read their lines (check it out on the Criterion Collection DVD).
Smith's writing is so sharp that almost any actor (or non-actor) can come off looking good. That said, Jason Lee gives a classic comic performance, spouting off numerous un-PC lines, whether introducing a young toddler to his collection of porn magazines or asking Alyssa about her lesbian habits: "Since you like chicks, do you just look at yourself naked in the mirror all the time?" Affleck has delivers solid work in a gutsy role. How much you like or hate Joey Lauren Adams will depend heavily on how you cope with her nasal, high-pitched voice.
Of course, a Kevin Smith film wouldn't be complete without the presence of Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself), and their scene is a keeper. While dining with Holden at a restaurant, the two offer relationship advice that's alternately poignant and hilarious.
With a writer/director as daring as Kevin Smith, odds are there will be some scenes in his films that you won't like. However, that's a small price to pay for the many hilarious scenes you do get, and it's also part of the reason that Chasing Amy rewards repeat viewings. Crown this movie a college classic, and look for students to be chasing Amy for many more years to come.
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Plenty of laughs, including a damn funny bar scene during which Banky and Alyssa swap stories about going down on women.
Depending on the person, this is a potentially great date flick, but the more conservative may want to look elsewhere.
Buy this movie from Amazon.com
