Chasing Amy

Chasing Amy; romantic comedy, USA, 1997; D: Kevin Smith, S: Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, Jason Mewes, Casey Affleck, Guineve Turner, Carmen Llwelyn, Brian O'Halloran, Kevin Smith, Matt Damon
Holden and his friend Banky know each other since childhood and are authors of the cult comic book "Bluntman and Chronic". At a comic book convention they meet Alyssa who also draws comics, and Holden falls in love with her. But then he discovers she is a lesbian. Still, the two of them become friends. It all becomes complicated when he admits his love to her in the car. Alyssa angrily exits the car in the rain, but then comes back and still lands in bed with him. Banky hates Alyssa and discovers her secret from high school - she slept with two guys at the same time. Holden argues with her and they split. A year later. Holden doesn't work with Banky anymore and gives his comic "Chasing Amy" to Alyssa before he leaves.

Despite the fact that "Chasing Amy" has a messy structure, naughty jokes, and often talks about sex, it's hard to find a film released that same year that's more magical, touching and honest about love. But without those deliberate mistakes and unusual directions maybe it wouldn't even be such a genuine and memorable achievement that captures the spirit of the 90s. The final film from Kevin Smith's New Jersey trilogy, "Amy" completely embraces the life of the young generation and talks honestly about their adult lives, living from passionate dialogues that seem as if they come from real people, which was one of the reasons why it appealed to so many viewers who finally got the chance to see adults openly talking about their intimate lives without censorship. Smith and Tarantino were the two most prominent figures from the 90s that promoted a new trend in American cinema, a trend of movies that just love to hear people talk, talk and talk. And here Smith rises to the occasion (the dialogue between Holden and Alyssa, in which he poses a question if a lesbian woman, who never had sex with a man, is de facto still a virgin?). But despite funny gags, some wacky (the comic convention where Hooper X gives the hilarious "Nubian God" speech) some naughty (cake with breasts), this is at its core still a poetic story about love overcoming all obstacles. 

If one needs to point out and recommend two crucial sequences, then it would definitely be the one where, after numerous jokes, Holden simply stops his car during the rain and seriously, honestly admits his love to Alyssa ("But I had to say it. I can't take this anymore. I can't stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can't look into your eyes without feeling that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can't talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are... I've never felt this before, and I like who I am because of it."), which is such poetic perfection that it seems as if the whole film outgrows itself at that moment; the other is right after that one where his friend catches the couple on the couch, after sleeping together, goes outside without saying a single word, and simply observes some Canadian school girls doing stylistic exercises on the street. The first hour is fantastic, it is basically the entire film, and Smith should have stopped at that. Unfortunately, the remaining 45 minutes are unnecessary, shoehorning artificial problems and obstacles (Holden wants to break up with Alyssa just because he found out she had a wild sex past. So what?) that only TV soap operas insert to sustain the viewers attention. This last third is overstretched, never repeats that high level, whereas Holden's proposition for a threesome feels pointless and random, ending the story on an anticlimactic, chaotic note. Still, this is a small gem of 90s independent cinema, with characters so outstanding that they are interesting to watch even when the movie is on a lesser mode, and Joey Lauren Adams is great as Alyssa.

Grade:+++