Chasing Amy


Director: Kevin Smith(II).

Starring: Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith(II).

I like to start with my prejudices up front, just so you can gauge from where I am coming. I saw Clerks and loved it. Actually, I saw it multiple times. I made all my friends watch it and I talked about it for weeks. I never saw Mallrats; due to changing countries at the time, I missed it. I assumed that some of the bad reviews it received were probably some sort of reaction to the let down since the hype of Clerks, particularly since there were a few reviewers who were actually willing to defend Mallrats (not Mr. Smith(II), judging by the credits of Chasing Amy). Given all this, I went in to Chasing Amy expecting a reasonably clever movie with possibly politically incorrect sexual politics.

All I can say is that if Chasing Amy is an improvement over Mallrats then I'm pretty pleased that I missed Mallrats.

Ok, that's not all I can say. There was one scene in the movie that I felt was on par with the fun and inventiveness of Clerks. This was an early scene where the racial politics of Star Wars was discussed. That was one funny scene. In fact, that was the funny scene.

Banky (Ms. Jason Lee) had a few clever quips and Silent Bob (Mr. Kevin Smith(II)) and Jay (Ms. Jason Mewes) were mildly amusing. More than that good I cannot say about Chasing Amy.

Bad things, however, I haven't even begun. I realise that some of my objects are superficial but this is a movie we're analysing, not a soup kitchen. My first severe problem occurred just at the end of the Star Wars scene when our heroine opened her mouth. What a voice! I hoped briefly that she was just a support character but that was not to be. This woman's voice makes Ms. Melanie Griffith sound like Ms. Kathleen Turner.

The voice also has an impact on other parts of the movie. Attempts by Ms. Adams to sound forceful and strong came out as high pitched and screechy. A scene in the parking lot where she tries to yell aggressively comes out more as a plaintive whine. She came across as a please-don't-leave-me type, in stark contrast with her this-is-who-I-am, take-me-or-leave-me stance. For me, her character had no credibility.

I also had problems with the motivations of the male leads. Was Banky really that insecure? If so, would he really be so willing to display his insecurities to all and sundry? And speaking of insecurities, what was with Holden (Mr. Ben Affleck)? Perhaps this is a boy thing but I really didn't understand from where he was coming.

Mostly, however, I just found the movie boring. I looked at my watch multiple times throughout the movie. I didn't really care about these people and I couldn't understand why they were making their own lives so difficult. The only conclusions I could make from the movie are that men are stupid and women screech a lot.

Chasing Amy just wasn't believable enough. On top of that, it wasn't clever enough or funny enough to compensate. Many reviewers spoke as if this movie showed that Mr. Smith had finally come of age as a director. If growing up means being less witty, having incredibly insecure, immature characters and less interesting situations (cf. the roller hockey scene in Clerks), then I'll remain a kid and go rent Clerks again.

Rating: CP

© Nikki Lesley 1997