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Reflection : Chasing Amy (1997)

Of all the highly quotable directors in existence, Kevin Smith is (and more than likely will always be) on of those champions.  His movies have a wit and rhythm to them not present in the films of many of his contemporaries.  After a pairing of films that had pretty much pigeon-holed Smith into the realm of college-level, immature humor, he surprised everyone with the extremely heartfelt and mature (in terms of the ViewAskewniverse) offering that is Chasing Amy. 

Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are not only friends of twenty years, but co-creators of the wildly successful comic book Bluntman and Chronic.  After a signing appearance at a New York City comic book convention, the duo assist fellow comic artist Hooper X (Dwight Ewell) in a publicity stunt to help promote his comic, White Hating Coon, on a minority panel.  During the stunt, Holden meets Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), creator of the comic Idiosyncratic Routine, and is instantly smitten with her.  Holden attempts to kindle the flames he feels, only to be hit with the shocking revelation that Alyssa is a lesbian.  This news, however, does not dissuade his attempts, and after an awkward courting period and a flurry of emotional sharing, the two become a couple.  This move not only rocks Alyssa’s social world, it creates a rift between Banky and Holden that threatens to not only damage their success, but their friendship as well.  As Holden attempts to navigate his relationships with Alyssa and Banksy, news of Alyssa’s past comes to light that shocks him, further causing problems in his mind while bringing both relationships to an uncomfortable and unfortunate breaking point.

Kevin Smith’s first two movies, while entertaining, are mostly self-indulgent pieces of world-building, foundation-laying work for the ViewAskewniverse.  What makes Chasing Amy stand out from Clerks and Mallrats, however, is the attempt to integrate this world-building into broader cultural and social issues, such as toxic masculinity (well before there was a title to it) and the treatment of minorities in the broader society.  Smith manages to keep his faithful in the fray by continuing his practice of threading all of his stories together, directly referencing events and people from the previous two films and continuing to embrace the New Jersey aesthetic he was famously known for.  He even manages to bring Jay and Silent Bob into the mix for more than a gratuitous cameo, not only tying their antics into the narrative directly, but seeding their actions for what would eventually become Dogma very subtly. 

The maturity that Smith showed in his attempt at a love story was, at the time, quite admirable, as he self-admittedly embraced ‘dick and fart jokes’ up to that point.  Choosing to give his ‘protagonist’ (which we will return to later) such a seemingly impossible hurdle to overcome was fresh for the romantic-comedy genre, which gave his film a unique energy.  The smart choice to not allow Holden to have his cake and eat it too amplifies the heartbreak that all parties involved in the main narrative feel in the fallout of the choices made by Holden.  Alyssa threatens to be one-note quite often throughout the movie, but when allowed the space to navigate emotionally, Joey Lauren Adams manages to bring depth to the character, refusing to allow her to become either the femme fatale or an apologist for her past actions and choices.  Allowing her to also be a peer to Holden and Banky (though not as successful a peer) also gives Alyssa equal footing as a character, rather than making the pursuit further blurred by adding a fan/creator element to it.  

While some would argue that the film ‘has not aged well’ based on it’s use of homophobic slurs and it’s flippant approach to homosexuality, I’d argue that it has more impact than ever as the years go by.  As society has grown to validate the behavior of men behaving badly, it’s actually refreshing to see a character like Holden in a film of this nature.  As a young man, I did not realize it, but despite his placement as the protagonist of the film, very little of him is admirable in terms of character.  He eschews all hints and warnings, choosing instead to continue in a series of self-validating ‘escapades’ to prove some skewed sense of self-worth, only to eventually break at the inevitable facing of Alyssa’s past.  When that bridge is reached, rather than cross it with Alyssa, he chooses instead to go it alone, burning it in his wake with the torch of judgement and creating a divide that he and Alyssa can not recover from.  To further make things worse, when faced with the task of the ‘revelation’ of his actions, he makes all of the wrong choices, continuing to ultimately worry about himself and his personal validation, killing his relationship, friendship and working arrangement in one fell swoop. 

Kevin Smith is clearly using Ben Affleck to channel very personal thoughts and opinions, but with that taken in mind, Affleck still manages to bring moments of charm to the surface to balance against his cringiest character choices.  Joey Lauren Adams gives a performance bigger than the typecasting that tended to come with her mousey voice (up to that point), providing a couple of powerhouse monologues that up the dramatic ante of the film.  Jason Lee gave a breakthrough performance, proving to be more than just comedic talent in his continuing transition from pro skateboarder to legitimate actor.  Dwight Ewell was the pleasant surprise of the film, managing to straddle the fence of being the most militant character (though in a faux sense) while also being the most stereotypical presentation of homosexuality in the film.  Jason Mewes and Smith give the first true curveball performance in their canon of being Jay and Silent Bob, with Mewes bringing more nuance than usual to his performance, while Smith shines in his largest on-film monologue up to that point.  Cameos by Ethan Suplee, Scott Mosier, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Brian O’Halloran also provide memorable moments.

While not the most ambitious or mature film of the Kevin Smith catalog (we’d have to wait until Red State for that one), Chasing Amy is a huge step in the direction of growth and validation in terms of film-making.  Thankfully, Smith chose to make films like these an occasional treat, allowing continued low-brow humor to balance out his loftier affairs.  It’s hard to argue that if not for Chasing Amy, Smith would not have grown into the popular film-maker that he is today.