Chasing Amy

Pros: Temerity.
Cons: Timorousness.

Chasin' Gay Me might be a better title for this film than Chasing Amy, but perhaps the best title of all would be Fixing the Lesbian.

"There's a twenty-dollar bill in the middle of a four-way intersection," says Banky...

Pros: Smart romantic comedy [gay romantic comedy?]
Cons: Kevin Smith is a turn-off for some

Chasing Amy is a perfect relationship mess. I’ve seen it four hours before jumping in a relationship that has not been promising anything in the beginning, started more as a joke just to have myself some good time, but that is leading into phase where I...

Pros: A hilarious and witty love story. Realistic dialog.
Cons: Nasty subject matter and heavy profanity is certainly not for everyone.

Kevin Smith, the writer/director behind Clerks and Mallrats is certainly an acquired taste. His dialog explodes with offensive remarks and profanity and he has a blunt, in-your-face style that is often unsettling to watch....

Pros: everything
Cons: well, the fact that people like his other flicks over this one.

I'm not the hugest fan of Kevin Smith. Clerks? Grossly overrated and self-indulgent. Mallrats? Just plain bad and silly. But then he had the one two punch of Dogma a flawed film to be sure, but one that made an attempt at...

Pros: 9/10
Cons: 1/10

Chasing Amy (1997) has the characteristics of every movie written and directed by Kevin Smith------mediocre acting, barely-above-average direction, brilliant dialogue and furtive humor. It attempts to connect with the viewer by attacking an ...

Pros: A good easy going film
Cons: Affleck is good but seems to only have one or two facial expressions

Although not finding out about Kevin Smith films until I saw the superb Dogma on Sky Movies a couple of years ago I felt I had been missing out so set about catching up on his earlier work. And this film was one of those earlier films and in fact is the ...

Pros: One of the best love stories of the modern age, brilliantly scripted, great performances.
Cons: None.

In the world of independent film, Kevin Smith emerged as a cult hero in 1994 with Clerks, a comedy about people who stand around a convenience store and talk. The movie was a huge success shot on a budget of pocket change ($24 000), and cemented Smith as ...

Pros: New ideas, honest, funny, good look at relationships
Cons: none

I just watched Chasing Amy for perhaps the fifth time over the last few years, and I always get some little piece more out of it.

It centers around Holden (Ben Affleck), who lives in Red Bank, New Jersey, with his comic book drawing partner,...

Pros: Bold. Jason Lee is in fine form.
Cons: Depressing, disturbing and not very funny for the most part. Ending straight from the very pits of Hell.

After having the good fortune to see Dogma a few weeks ago and after hearing some positive reports, I decided to make some forays into director Kevin Smith's earlier work.

I headed on down to my local video library and headed...

Pros: Ben Affleck's best acting job ever (no, seriously), Jason Lee is brilliant.
Cons: The long interactions between Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams are the nadirs of the film.

Kevin Smith's previous work leading to this, the 3rd installment of the "Jersey Trilogy", is very interesting in it's dynamics. The first movie, 1994's Clerks, was as low-budget as it gets, shot in black-and-white, full of dark comedy, ...

Pros: Strong acting; raunchy, sophomoric humor, mixture of sweetness and spice.
Cons: May be too earthy (raw) for some.

If you don't like the "A" word, you won't like Chasing Amy. If you don't like the "B" words, you won't like Chasing Amy. If you don't like the "C" word, you won't like Chasing Amy. If you don't like the "D" words, you won't like...

Pros: Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, the moving story and the literate dialogue.
Cons: I don't like conventions of any kind.

Kevin Smith must be mighty proud of himself. Between the years 1993 and 2001, in only five movies, he has fashioned the most lettered treatise on the vacuity of the blue-collar lifestyle and the materialistic lifestyle, the utter confusion of traditional...

Pros: read the review
Cons: read the review

Relationships and sexuality are very difficult to deal with intelligently in the movies. Any movie can be a "romance," but what makes "Chasing Amy" unique is the fact it is able to deal with these issues in a funny manner and still be sympathetic. The ...

Pros: A sweet, funny, and touching love story fueled by great performances and sparkling dialogue
Cons: Those not used to Kevin Smith's style may find it to be a bit vulgar

As of now, writer/director Kevin Smith has made a total of four films (Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, and this one, Chasing Amy). With those four films, however, he’s attained some kind of weird god-like...

Pros: Terrific screenplay and performances; excellent DVD presentation
Cons: Lackluster photography

Kevin Smith's delightful Chasing Amy, already a bonafide cult-classic despite its relative newness, is something of a rarity in the glutted realm of romantic comedies: a film which works not because of its screwball situations, but because the...