Review #1514: Chasing Amy.
Cast:
Ben Affleck (Holden McNeil), Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa Jones), Jason Lee (Banky Edwards), Dwight Ewell (Hooper X), Jason Mewes (Jay), Kevin Smith (Silent Bob), Ethan Suplee (Fan), and Scott Mosier (Collector) Written and Directed by Kevin Smith (#794 - Clerks)
Review:
"The people that write about movies and talk about how important film is, and blah blah blah, it's ridiculous. Because at the end of the day, film's not important. What's important is kind of the simple things: Family, survival, life. Film is just entertainment."
It's easy to be drawn into film if you have an interest from a young age. Kevin Smith once described himself as "raised on television", but he had not truly thought about doing a film until he saw the film Slacker (1990), which interested him in how different it was from other films of the time in entertainment in its approach to characters. He decided to try and make his own independent film while looking up directors that had done work with less money to draw from that ranged from Jim Jarmusch to Spike Lee; he spent four months at Vancouver Film School before returning to his native New Jersey to work back at a convenience store. This proved the basis for his debut with Clerks (1994), which you may very well already know as the ultra-low budget comedy cult classic. His next film the following year in Mallrats crashed and burned with audiences, although it later developed a cult following in its own right.
Sometimes you just have to have a film about the hows and whys of a relationship, regardless of how good or bad the material turns out to be. Part of the inspiration for Smith to do this film (which he would also co-edit) was the experiences with his then-girlfriend Adams. I suppose the true enjoyment of the film comes from how much it resonates in biting humor about the absurdities that can come from relationships, whether as friends or more. What we perceive in our minds about people and the self-doubts that can come from it can shape who we are. Not everything has a bright beginning or ending when it comes to trying to find love and make it stick because of how you love someone, not who it is. This was the first breakthrough for Affleck, who had started acting as a child before moving into small roles in film (such as Dazed and Confused, which also featured Adams). He does fairly well here, having a confident vulnerability to him that generally can sell himself with useful nature. Adams proves just as (if not more so) interesting, having an alluring charm and good timing on certain moments to make the inevitable chemistry pop-ups work out as fine as they do. Skateboarder-turned-actor Lee makes for a snappy third for the proceedings, being pretty amusing in combative bonding. Ewell does fine, although it is his opening scene involving Affleck, Lee, and a convention speech that is his highlight moment. Mewes and Smith continue their double act from before with no sort of trouble in bumming a laugh and perhaps a bit of insight.
Honestly, I guess it really depends on how much experience one has when it comes to relationships like this, where one wonders how the perspective changes from say a bachelor viewer to a married viewer or even just someone with their own distinct fluidity. We are talking about a guy who pines after a "lesbian", after all. All I can think is the same thing I can think of "standard romcoms" that have their own little conflict in contrivances: Who really cares? Who the hell really cares about if your significant other had some experience before you and why does it matter to make a film about?. For all of its little moments of raunchy humor, it really isn't that much different from the clichés of before, right down to detailing personality at moments and beginning contrivances - one might as well be watching Annie Hall (1977) if they need an anatomy of neurosis at that point. I can appreciate taking on trying to do nuance with a romcom, but the mileage that it tries to drive itself with isn't really as deep as it thinks it is, existing on the idea that I really will just think this dilemma is just that meaningful and different from before - basically like window dressing up a comic book store. Whether it is sensitive or honestly raw enough to truly make for meaningful experiences is up to the viewer. On the whole, it is fairly decent, garnering some laughs with an ideal trio while making some of its connections count in perceptions and poignancy for a fair time.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
