January 03, 2003
Chasing Amy (1997)
[4 - Good]As a Kevin Smith fan I had to buy myself a copy of Chasing Amy. I wish I had remembered how deeply touching and depressing this movie is before I decided to watch it. Had I remembered the empty feeling in my gut that I got both the first time and this time after watching the movie I would have done a better job of choosing the right time and preparing for the film.
Chasing Amy is far from a cinematographic masterpiece. It is however one of the most brutal and emotionally honest movies in the Kevin Smith collection. I will not give away the ending for anyone who has not seen it, but I feel I can say that there are parts of this movie that affected me personally as I saw characters being jerks and assholes in that special way that we are all capable of. The best and hardest part of this movie to watch is probably the performance of Joey Lauren Adams who can show the deepest love and the deepest hurt in her eyes with such effectiveness that it made me feel guilty for my own past sins of emotional abandonment.
Chasing Amy is the first movie to get a rating of 4 (Good) on the Film Talk blog because of its success in delivering a well-aimed kick to the soul. I recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed other Kevin Smith movies, to anyone who gets off on emotional masochism and to anyone wanting to see vivacity and raw emotion. A word of warning though: Choose your time and place, you may find it hard to sleep after watching this movie.
Okay, here's the low down:
Never had heard of Kevin Smith, but I did hear about his work. Clerks popped up every once and a while but I didn't think much of it. Then, one day at work I mentioned my lack of the "Kevin Smith experience" and my buddy handed me Clerks, Mallrats, & Chasing Amy. I believe I ended up watching all three in one day. (So that's where Afleck came from) It was surreal, but Gosh Darn it, I really enjoyed them all. I can't really compare Kevin Smith to anyone else. Tarantino has a slick, ubercool style to a few of his trademark films, as does Smith, but in different ways. I think they both know dialogue extremely well. Mallrats could have been another Sorority Boys or Van Wilder if not for the great writing and honesty that you get with Kevin Smith. Yeah, a lot of it is low brow humor, much of which was quite funny, but each film has the heart to go further. It's a progression, really. Clerks was raw, uncensored, vulgar, with a sarcastic class of its own. Mallrats shifted a bit towards "Hollywood", but managed to feel right when the credits began to role. It is my least favorite of the three, but I loved them all, so that's not saying much. Chasing Amy was an entirely different animal. I expected Mallrats 2. And in many ways, Chasing was as raw as Clerks, but Smith focused in on his third attempt and hit everything on the head. The heart and honesty of Chasing were kicked up a notch further fueled by probably the best performances of Afleck and Joey Adams career's. (ARMAGEDDON: Noun. Complete destruction; laid waste. Example: Ben Afleck's career, after Armageddon
was released.) Just kidding, Ben, have a sense of humor!
Kevin Smith loves fart and dick jokes. Watch the commentary track on any of his DVDs and you will see that he is a very self-aware individual. He is very clear in knowing when he is making a base joke and when he is writing to a 'higher' purpose. Part of the beauty of Kevin Smith is that he knows dick and fart jokes are base, but he also knows that both he and his audience laugh at them, so he is not afraid to use them. The real beauty of Kevin Smith is that he does not stick to base humor but uses it to punch up (or down as the case may be) moments in scripts with some intelligent dialogue.
Posted by: Leopoldo on January 8, 2003 08:39 AMWhat do you think of his other movies (that he's directed and written). I was interested to discover he wrote Scary Movie 3 and is doing the next Fletch film, a prequel.
Nick
Posted by: Nick on January 10, 2003 02:22 PMYou will notice reviews for 'Clerks' http://www.geekroar.com/film/archives/000076.php and 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' http://www.geekroar.com/film/archives/000049.php posted on geekroar. I just completed my Kevin Smith Collection (Jay and Silent Bob was the missing DVD) and am going back and re-watching them all and posting as I go. Once I am done with the ViewSkeniverse cycle I intend to write something up about Kevin Smith and his style.... so stay tuned!
Posted by: Leopoldo on January 10, 2003 02:40 PMFrom the Daredevil comments section:
I said:
"Strangely enough, I also saw Chasing Amy for the first time this weekend... Good movie, but DAMN it ticked me off..."
To which Leopoldo responded:
"What was it about Chasing Amy that ticked you off? Inquiring minds want to know.."
Well, before I start on whay i got ticked off, i want to say that this movie is my second favoriute Kevin Smith movie. The comic convention scenes and fans and exchanges were so true to life that it hurt... The story was good (and even great in spots), the characters and dialogue were great and the ending was perfectly right.
It ticked me off for a variety of reasons... mostly because Holden (Ben Affleck's character) made such HUGE mistakes that a lot of people make in relationships... Not communicating properly, not being honest with his feelings when it counted and being so "me-centric" in his "solution" to the problem... Also, his lack of action when it came to Banky (Jason Lee's character) ticked me off in a big scary way...
Speaking of Banky... I had this major love/hate thing going with him... he was repulsive and yet alluring -- at points i thought he was the best and at other times, i wished that Holden would kick his ass and get it over with.
I guess, overall it ticked me off because I saw these things that people should be able to relate to and learn from, and i know that most people WON'T...
Don't get me wrong, this movie is one that i would recommend and i would like to watch again... i just want to kick Holden straight in the crotch a few times and punch Banky in the mouth for good measure.
Heck, if it gets this much reaction out of me, let that speak for itself :)
Posted by: Mari on February 19, 2003 11:55 AMI can totally relate to what you are saying Mari. There were a number of times that I wanted to reach through the screen and slap the characters.
Posted by: Leopoldo on February 19, 2003 02:11 PMthis film is a very raw and emotional story which is so true to life it hurts (well apart from falling in love with a lesbian) but the social comentary smith delivers is scathing and true to life it hurts. The film shows that not all characters in movies have to be perfect and that people do have flaws. plus it had dick and fart jokes.
Posted by: roberto on July 4, 2004 02:36 AM
