If you've read any of my other Kevin Smith film reviews then you'll know that I'm a huge fan of his intelligently written and superbly performed films.
Chasing Amy was the third low-budget movie directed and written by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma) and this is easily up there with the best of them.
STORYLINE:
The story revolves around comic book artost Holden (Ben Affleck) and comic book 'tracer', and friend, Banky (Jason Lee) who are introduced to Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams) by their gay friend Hooper X (Dwight Ewell). Holden instantly beings to fall for this very beautiful and, seemingly, perfect woman - sexy, funny & full of personality.
But then the twist - he finds out she's gay. The story then moves onto to show Holden's difficulty dealing with this but he carries on meeting up with her and they soon become best of friends.
Then after a major arguement with Bunky, Holden realises that he can't hide his feeling from Alyssa anymore and then, in possibly the greatest 'I love you' speech in any film, he confesses his feeling to her. And after some soul searching Alyssa realises she feels the same for Holden.
This part of the story is where alot of people went wrong with what they thought Kevin Smith was trying to bring across here. He wasn't trying to say that any gay women could 'overcome' how she really is and turn straight. Alyssa explained earlier in the film that she discovered she was gay when she realised that she didn't need to limit herself to just trying to find the perfect guy, when the perfect woman could be out there too.
The film then moves on to explore the major relationship issues between the two of them and Holden's insecurites with Alyssa's past.
I won't give the ending away, but it's probably not the ending you'd expect.
Plus the brilliant Jay and Silent Bob do feature!! - if you've seen any previous films by Kevin Smith then you'll know that this is a very good thing!!.
DVD EXTRA'S:
As with all Kevin Smith DVD's a lot of effort is put into the special extra features. There are the extra scenes and extended scenes missed from the film due to time constraints and each are intorduced by Kevin Smith and other members of the cast and crew.
But by far one of the best parts of this DVD (and any other DVD for that matter) is the superb 'Directors Commentary'. This isn't just the director saying what he thought about certain scenes etc, but is 6 members of the cast and crew talking through all the important points of the movie - making comments and very funny banter between them all. Absolutely superb!.
Also try giving the official website a go at www.viewaskew.com/chasingamy/index.html
OVERALL:
This is an excellent film, and even if you haven't seen any of Kevin Smith's previous work this is well worth a watch - excellent film!.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2003 - Comedy - Director: John Crowley - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Colin Farrell, Shirley Henderson, Cillian Murphy, Colm Meaney, Rory Keenan, Laurence Kinlan
(+) Because of the new series the box set isn't complete, which means it will be cheaper! (-) It isnt the complete box set so you'll have to buy the new dvds seperatly or wait for the new set!
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
My brother recommended this one to me as well. I'll definitely look out for it! Cheers, take it easy
GazzaR 09.07.2001 20:37
This is actually the only Kevin Smith film I haven't seen yet, and from your review it seems like Jay and Silent Bob would look kinda out of place here. But then again, look at Dogma. Good op, I'm really gonna have to try harder to find a copy of this (my local video stores don't really go for this sort of film, but I'll find it somewhere!).
Defiler 04.06.2001 03:06
Great film although not what I was expecting when I watched it, Silent Bob doesn't quite live up to his name either :) You said this was the 3rd low-budget film Kevin Smith did but I thought mallrats had quite a high budget in comparison to the other films (except dogma) he did?
Writer-director Kevin Smith (Clerks) makes a huge leap in sophistication with this strong ... more
story about a comic-book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams) and actually gets his wish that she love him, too. Their relati...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Writer-director Kevin Smith (Clerks) makes a huge leap in sophistication with this strong ... more
story about a comic-book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams) and actually gets his wish that she love him, too. Their relati...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
When successful comic book artist Holden meets Alyssa a fellow comic book artist he ... more
falls head over heels in love with her. Holden gets the shock of his life when he finds out she's not interested in him. She has her romantic sights set on another......
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Outrageously sexy and frankly hilarious, Chasing Amy is the hit comedy from Kevin Smith, ... more
the critically acclaimed director of Clerks & Dogma. Holden's been looking for the perfect woman - funny, bright and attractive. When he finally meets Alyssa, ...
Advantages: Very Funny, Hooper X, Jason Lee Disadvantages: The main music of the film is truly awfull best describes as 'plinkey plonkety', lack of Jay and Silent Bob
danm2 05.08.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Chasing Amy (DVD)
Advantages: hilarious, character centred, very witty dialogue Disadvantages: The story doesn't really come across as appealing. Possibly bad word of mouth with the lack of success at the box office
danm2 29.07.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Mallrats (DVD)
![Chasing Amy [DVD] [1997]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78530360.jpg "Chasing Amy [DVD] [1997]")
Jan 20th, 2001
(Mar 7th, 2001)
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