Holden (Ben Affleck) and Banky (Jason Lee) are comic book artists who have everything in their professional life going perfectly until Holden falls in love with a girl named Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams). Holden’s crush moves into a confusing territory for him when he finds out that Alyssa is a lesbian.
Who is the Audience for This Movie?
People who like relationship movies.
What I Liked About This Movie
When you go to see a Kevin Smith movie you know the dialogues going to be good. Chasing Amy managed to exceed my expectations of his sharply written dialogue. It is quite obvious that Smith put a lot of care and attention into the characters dialogue. Mind you, it is not the type of dialogue everyone will appreciate. Littered with raunchy explanations of sex, among other things, the dialogue is quite racy but when it goes into relationship territory it sounds very natural.
The two lead actors (Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams) work very well together on screen. Their relationship moves along in many ways you would expect but ends on a note that is surprisingly mature. You can tell Smith knew how to get the most out of the two actors. Jason Lee also puts in a good supporting performance by adding some solid comic relief.
Subject matter explored in this movie is not often discussed, Smith handles it well enough to make it accessible to people who are iffy on the topic of same gender relationships. Personally I could care less about other people’s gender choice because it is their decision; this movie pushes that point home in a non preachy way.
What Didn’t Work For Me
Two missteps in a row put a large damper on the flow of the movie. Right after Holden and Alyssa connect with each other there is a montage sequence. I for one rarely like the usage of montages because they take you out of the story. Sometimes they are needed but its use in Chasing Amy seemed unnecessarily cheesy at best. The scene following it has Holden and Banky arguing over Holden’s new relationship in an attempt to show the effect the new relationship has on their long lasting friendship. My problem with that choice was that this aspect is re-explored later in more depth with somewhat the structure. Only difference is at that point the relationship between Holden and Alyssa has gone on for longer period of time so it makes more sense. Both of these scenes could have been cut out.
Should You Watch This Movie?
If you like a lot of dialogue in your movies I would give it a viewing.
My Rating (Out of 13)
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