Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic
comedy-drama written and directed by Kevin Smith about
two comic book artists: Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), a
heterosexual male, and Alyssa Jones
(Joey Lauren Adams), a lesbian-identified
woman.
The movie contains frank sexual dialogue, and was originally inspired by a brief scene from an early movie by a friend of
Smith's, Guin Turner's Go Fish, wherein
one of the lesbian characters imagines her friends passing judgment on her for "selling out" by
sleeping with a man. Kevin Smith was dating Joey Lauren Adams while he wrote the script, which was also partly inspired by
her.
The film won two awards at the 1998 Independent Spirit Awards (Best
Screenplay for Smith and Best Supporting Actor for Jason Lee) and Joey Lauren Adams was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical.
Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum was the Musical
Consultant/Producer on this film and wrote music for it.
Plot
Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards are comic book artists and lifelong friends. Everything is going good for them until they meet
Alyssa Jones at a comic book convention in New
York to promote their comic Bluntman and Chronic. Holden is attracted
to Alyssa, but shortly finds out that she is a lesbian. The two begin hanging out, and a deep
friendship develops. Banky, however, dislikes Alyssa and is bothered by her and Holden's relationship. Eventually Holden is no
longer able to contain his romantic leanings, and confesses his love to Alyssa. She initially considers his confession unfair and
inconsiderate since she is a lesbian, but that night the two begin a romantic relationship.
This new development deepens tension between Holden and Banky. Banky begins to dig up dirt on Alyssa's past, and reports to
Holden that Alyssa participated in a threesome in high school. Holden is deeply disturbed by
this revelation, previously believing that Alyssa had never been sexually involved with men. Holden angrily confronts Alyssa
while attending a hockey game. During a tearful argument, she tells Holden about her "many" youthful sexual experimentations.
Holden learns that she is not a lesbian in the strictest sense (lesbian-identified bisexual
would better describe her sexual orientation). She apologizes for letting him believe that he was the only man she had been with;
however, she refuses to apologize for her past, and Holden leaves.
Later, during a lunch with Jay and Silent Bob, Silent Bob reveals that he was once
in a relationship similar to Holden's. Despite the fact that he was in love with his girlfriend, Amy, his insecurities about her
adventurous sexual past caused him to sabotage the relationship. Angry at himself for letting
her go, he's spent the rest of his life since then "chasing Amy." Inspired by Silent Bob's story, Holden devises a plan to fix
both his relationship with Alyssa and his fractured friendship with Banky: he invites them both over, and claims that the three
of them must have sex with each other. Though initially appalled, Banky agrees to participate, whereas Alyssa dumps him on the
spot, stating that though she loves him, she will not be his whore.
One year later, both Banky and Alyssa are busy promoting their own respective comics at a comic book convention in New York.
Holden has a brief conversation with Alyssa, and gives her a copy of Chasing Amy, his new comic based on their failed
relationship.
Cast
DVD
A special edition DVD was released with 1.85:1 anamorphic Widescreen picture and Dolby 5.1 surround sound. It includes the
following bonus features: Audio commentary from cast and crew; Introduction by Kevin Smith; deleted scenes; outtakes; and theatrical
trailer.
Chasing Amy was originally released as a Criterion Collection
Laserdisc. Smith raised eyebrows when he recorded the running commentary for the Laserdisc, as
he started it by saying, "This is a laserdisc, and I'd like to take a moment to say fuck DVD." The running commentary was
recorded when there was an animosity between Laserdisc and DVD enthusiasts, and Smith was a staunch Laserdisc supporter. When
Criterion released the DVD - which re-uses the Laserdisc running commentary - Smith recorded a special introduction in which he
apologized for the comment and jokingly attributed it to Jason Mewes.
It was rumored that 2007 would see the release of a Chasing Amy X DVD, in a similar vein as the Clerks X DVD and the Mallrats: 10th Anniversary DVDs. But at Comic-Con 2007, Smith confirmed that a special "supplementary" DVD will be released next year to
go along with the Criterion Collection DVD released eariler that will just have more extras on it. [1]
Actors who appeared in other Smith Films
Smith cast actors and friends who have appeared in his other films. For example, Walt "the Fanboy" Grover (Walt Flanagan) and Steve-Dave (Bryan Johnson), who were
introduced in Mallrats and went on to cameo in Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, appear in a deleted scene as proprietors of a comic
store, the Collector who calls Banky a tracer is played by Scott Mosier (this film's
producer and a friend of Smith), and the boy he dissuades asking Banky for an autograph is Casey
Affleck, younger brother of the film's star Ben Affleck. Ethan Suplee, who played Willam Black in Mallrats, makes an appearance as a comic book fan at the start of the film. Matt Damon makes his first
appearance in a Smith film as an MTV producer, and would later go on to star in Dogma and make a cameo in Jay and
Silent Bob Strike Back as himself. Clerks. star Brian O'Halloran also makes an appearance as an MTV exec alongside
Damon. Writer/director Guinevere Turner, a friend of Smith's, makes an appearance in the bar scene as the band member that
introduces Alyssa. She would later appear as the bus station attendant in Dogma. Smith's producer Scott Mosier appears briefly in the film, making out with his girlfriend on the hood of a car outside of a
bar. Ernie O'Donnell, Smith's childhood friend, who played Rick Derris in Clerks, makes a brief cameo sitting next to
Holden and Alyssa in the hockey game scene. Smith's cousin John Willyung plays the character Cohee Lundin. Willyung appears in
the deleted alternate ending to Clerks as the man who shoots Dante, and later appears in Jay and Silent Bob Strike
Back in a brief appearance.
Linked to
References to other Askewniverse Films
- Alyssa (Adams) tells Holden (Affleck) outside the hockey rink that she has had sex with Gwen Turner and Shannon Hamilton, who
were played by Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck in Mallrats.
- At one point, Banky mentions having had sex with Brandi Svenning, adding that her father caught the two in the act. Both
Brandi and her father were characters in Mallrats, though neither Claire Forlani
(Brandi) nor Michael Rooker (Mr. Svenning) reprised their roles for this movie.
- Alyssa Jones is the sister of Tricia Jones from
Mallrats. In the Train Station scene when Holden calls Alyssa she says that her sister is at her parents, Holden asks if
it's the one who wrote the book, and Alyssa replies yes.
- "Dunn and Reddy Home Improvements" is listed as being on the 3rd floor of the building that "Bank Holdup Studios" is in. In
Clerks., the roofer in the debate about independent contractors in the Death Star says his
company is "Done and Ready Home Improvements."
- At one point, Holden mentions the Quick Stop and Alyssa adds that her best friend, Caitlin
had sex with a dead guy there (a reference to Clerks.).
- Brian O'Halloran, who plays Dante Hicks in the Clerks. movies, plays the movie executive, Jim Hicks, who offers the
cartoon deal.
- Four characters from the film (Holden, Banky, Alyssa, and Hooper X), apart from the two title characters, reappear in
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Additionally, Dave Pirner's opening theme music is reused in the film, Jay mentions Silent Bob's "stupid Amy story," and
Alyssa quips that Chasing Amy, the comic book Holden worked on, would "never work as a movie."
- The scene with Cohee Lundin talking about the "Fingercuffs" Incident takes place in front of the Quick Stop, the location of the movie Clerks.
- During the hockey rink scene, which took place at the Ocean Ice Palace in Brick
Township, New Jersey, when Holden is prying for more details about Alyssa's sexual encounter with the character Rick
Derris, the man sitting next to them is Ernie O'Donnell, who played Rick Derris in Smith's earlier film Clerks.
- In the tenth anniversary Clerks. DVD, Alyssa Jones appeared in what was called "The Lost Scene". This scene details
the entire encounter at the wake Dante and Randal attended (since, in Chasing Amy, Alyssa mentions that she has not been
back to the New Jersey suburbs since her friend's funeral). Animated in nature, Joey Lauren Adams provided the voice of Alyssa.
When Randal spots Alyssa in the feature, he refers to her as "fingercuffs". She also reveals that Mallrats does in fact take place the day before Clerks.
- Jay and Silent Bob mention that they are going to Chicago on "business," referring to how in Dogma, they show up at the beginning of the film in suburban Illinois looking for the fictional town of
"Shermer, Illinois" which in all of John Hughes' films have no drug dealers
(which Jay says makes it a perfect place for two drug dealers like themselves). Smith is a huge fan of Hughes and in the credits
of Mallrats, Smith thanks him for "giving me something to do on Friday nights during my
youth."
Cultural references
- The film's title is mentioned in a line of the song "Love Cliché" by the Montreal
group Bran Van 3000, used to refer to a character who is in love with a girl who reveals
herself as bisexual.
- In the MMORPG World of Warcraft there is a quest entitled "Chasing A-Me 01". A-Me is a robotic gorilla, so this
is also a reference to Congo.
- In Lord of the Rings Online, players receive a quest
titled "Chasing Amdir", referring to a Dunedain ranger. [citation needed]
- In the release of season 3 of The West Wing on DVD, the third chapter of
episode H. Con-172 is titled Chasing Amy.
- In the first bar scene a couple is seen making out on Banky's car, a reference to J.D.
Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye. Catcher in the Rye mentioned
Ed Banky, a football coach who loaned his car to his players who thought they might have sex on a date.
- The part where the characters share their "sex scars" is inspired by a similar scene between Quint and Hooper in Steven
Spielberg's Jaws (a scene originally written for Mallrats). Smith is a big fan of that film.
- In 2001 a film entitled Chasing
Holden was released. The movie has no connection to Chasing Amy except for its parallel title (Holden being the
name of the male lead in Chasing Amy), although some posters for the film resemble that of Chasing Amy.
- The L Word has several scenes in season two which appear to be lifted from
Chasing Amy.. In the episode "Labyrinth", Mark, Jenny and Shane debate over whether it
is possible for two girls to have sex with each other without strap-ons. Banky and Alyssa have a similar discussion in this
movie. In the episode "Loyal", Mark and Gomey get into a fight because of Mark's obsession with
Shane, very similar to Banky and Holden's fight over Alyssa.
- One of the episodes of Boy Meets World is titled "Chasing Angela", an obvious
pun on the film's title.
- In the video game rFactor, There is a driver by the name of Banky Holden. This is a cross
between Banky Edwards and Holden McNeill.
Trivia
- The "titty cake" shown in the montage was a last-second addition to the film. Kevin Smith designed the face of the cake
himself. Director of photography Dave Klein didn't
have a good amount of time to light the scene and Ben Affleck, not slated to work that night, was slightly drunk when they shot
the scene. [2].
- Originally, Jay and Silent Bob were to not appear in the film. Their images were
to only be seen as Bluntman and Chronic. Instead, Silent Bob delivers his longest
monologue in any of his movies about the titular Amy.
- The characters Holden and Banky Edwards refer to the names of Holden Caulfield and
Ed Banky of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in
the Rye.
- In Japan, the screenplay of Chasing Amy was adapted into a novel by Kenichi Eguchi and
published by Aoyama Publishing. The unique concept of the book is that it is roughly half-novel, half-manga, with Moyoco Anno providing the art for the comic book pages.
Joey Lauren Adams reportedly saw the book and hated it, as she felt that her
character's past sexual experiences were depicted in too graphic a fashion. (Source = Vizmedia.com)
- On the Criterion Collection DVD release, the disc reads "Copyright 1996 Too Askew Prod. Inc.". Although Kevin Smith's
production company is actually called "View Askew," the company "Too Askew" was created for the sole purpose of producing the
movie as a means of avoiding financial liability in the event that they would be sued.
- Banky refers to the Hartford Whalers as "a bunch of fuckin' faggots." Ironically,
in the earlier Smith film Mallrats, Jason Lee's character Brodie Bruce is playing as the Whalers on the Sega Genesis NHL
game when his girlfriend dumps him.
- In a deleted scene, Steve-Dave and Walt Grover the Fanboy (returning characters from Mallrats played by Bryan Johnson and Walt Flanagan) fervently
criticize Bluntman and Chronic. Smith has said that the critiques were
almost word for word copies of select critics' reviews of Mallrats.
- In an interview with Rolling Stone, Chris
Rock stated that this was his favorite film. When Kevin Smith heard about this, he invited Rock to appear in his next film
Dogma.
- The character La Fours from Smith's previous movie Mallrats can be seen as a drawing in the opening scene at the comic
book convention.
- Marvel comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada makes a
small cameo in this film. He would later be the artist on Kevin Smith's run on Daredevil. Quesada also drew one of the comic book covers in the opening credits to
Mallrats and makes a cameo in Jay
and Silent Bob Strike Back.
See also
External links
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