Chasing Amy

Kevin Smith, USA, 1997, 111 minutes

You either love it or you hate it, Chasing Amy is the Marmite of Kevin Smith films. Smith's third film is the tale of Holden McNeill (Affleck), who thinks he has met his perfect woman, until she turns out to be gay. The film documents their friendship and the effects it has on his relationships with his other friends. Anyone who has seen a Kevin Smith film will know the genius of his comedic writing and Chasing Amy is no exception, many scenes are superb with the hilarious convention panel scene being the high point.

The difference between Chasing Amy and Smith's other films is that Chasing Amy has an element of dramatic plot rather than being just a string of dick and fart jokes. Whilst his other films are excellent and it is perhaps unfair to marginalise them like that, Chasing Amy is our first sight of Smith trying to grow as a writer and director. Clerks was a perfect film for Smith; without a budget, the film had to stand or fall on what he does best: witty dialogue. Mallrats, his sophomore film, contains many moments of comedy genius but also suffers from a budget increase which Smith doesn't know what to do with, leading to some awkward slapstick set-pieces. In Chasing Amy, a matured Smith seems much more assured about what he wants to shoot. Sure there are many glimpses of what gave him his previous success but there's also dramatic plot and some tentative development in camerawork. As for how this affects the film: some people like it, seeing it as a step forwards; some find it gets in the way of what they really love about Smith movies, the comedy - which is what the films are first and foremost.

For me, this film is great and my personal favourite Smith film because it is more than just a pure comedy. Chasing Amy is a moving, dramatic film without losing these hilarious moments. The film certainly shows signs of his maturing as a filmmaker, though the ubiquity of static camera work is noticeable, but no Chasing Amy review would be complete without a mention of the unbelievable Jason Lee as the abrasive Banky Edwards who steals the show from the 'straight man' in Ben Affleck. Lee's performance alone is enough to demand your attendance.

Review by Peter Thompson
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2003

Solid blokey-man friendships are a common theme in all of Kevin Smith's films, and this time Ben Affleck (Holden) and Jason Lee (Banky) are the straight, unproblematic work+life couple until the lovely Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa) comes along. But she's a lesbian, they're all comic- book writers, and there's too much going on to end simply ever after.

I'm loathed to call this film a romantic comedy, as the chat about love (and Kevin Smith's films are made by and about the chat, even when you give him enough money to go back to his comic-book schemes with blood and angels) is far more intelligent than that suggests. The comedy is as high as in his debut Clerksthough, I reckon, with Dwight Ewell's Hooper X the highlight for me, and though I've seen this film a good few times I still cringe when I see Holden make the same mistake Dante makes in Clerks, of breaking the present because of something irrelevant from the past. (Damn it Kevin Smith, I hope you've got over this now, with two healthy doses of catharsis!)

If you've seen any Kevin Smith films and enjoyed them you'll know you have to come along, but if you don't know what you're missing, you have to turn up to hear Silent Bob (played by Smith himself)'s least silent moment, the political critique of Return of The Jedi (though more obvious than the worker-union complaints about the same film in Clerks), the obligatory Jaws homage, and inspire some enthusiasm into yourself to go find Kevin Smith's other films, because honestly, they really are all this funny.

Review by Jed Picksley
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2001