This article is about the 1997 movie. For the 2002 song, see
Brett James.
Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the third film in the View Askewniverse series. The film focuses on 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. In real life, Kevin Smith was dating Joey Lauren Adams at the time he was writing 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 (Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Lee) are comic book artists and lifelong friends. Everything is going well for them until they meet Alyssa Jones (Adams) at a comic book convention in New York to promote their comic Bluntman and Chronic. Holden is attracted to Alyssa, but soon learns 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 feelings, 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 the tension between Holden and Banky. Banky investigates and uncovers dirt on Alyssa's past, and he reports to Holden that Alyssa participated in a threesome during high school, which gave her the nickname, "Finger Cuffs". Holden is deeply disturbed by this revelation, having believed that Alyssa had never been sexually involved with men. He 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 more accurately 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 feeling angry and confused about the situation.
Later, during a lunch with Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), 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 and leave her. Angry at himself for letting her go, he has 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 explains to Holden that it will not save their relationship. Before leaving, she states that she loves him, but she will not be his whore. Relieved he will not have to get involved in a three-way, Banky also leaves the apartment, and summarily ends their friendship.
One year later, both Banky and Holden are busy promoting their own respective comics at a convention in New York. It is revealed that Holden has dissolved their partnership over Bluntman and Chronic, leaving the viewer with the assumption that he sold the publishing and creative rights over to Banky (which is corroborated in the beginning of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back). Banky smiles warmly at seeing his old friend, who silently congratulates him over the success of his new comic book. Banky gestures over to a booth hosted by Alyssa, and provides wordless encouragement to Holden to go talk to her. He has a brief conversation with Alyssa, and gives her a copy of Chasing Amy, his new comic based on their failed relationship. After Holden leaves, Alyssa's new girlfriend arrives and asks who that was. Alyssa feigns indifference and replies with, "Oh, just some guy I knew."
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.[citation needed] 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 earlier that will just have more extras on it.[3] Smith later said Criterion rejected the idea of a special edition as being "double dipping," but he is hopeful that new featurettes can be included on a future Blu-ray Disc release of the film.[4] Smith recently revealed at a Q&A session in Vancouver in early 2009 that he and the film's cast are currently recording new material for an upcoming Criterion Blu-ray Disc release of the film.[5]
Novel
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.[6]
Cultural references
- In a scene originally written for Mallrats, several principal characters share memories of sexual escapades gone awry. This scene reveals the character's own emotional "sex scars" and was purposefully created - down to the style of dialogue and set dressing - to mirror a scene from Steven Spielberg's Jaws in which Quint and Hooper share the physical scars they've both earned from encounters with sharks.[7]
Reception
The film is usually seen by critics as one of Kevin Smith's best films in his career, earning a 91% from reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert also gave the film "two thumbs up," and Ebert thought it was a great improvement after seeing Mallrats. The film is also brought up as the film that helped launch the career of a young Ben Affleck, being one of his first star roles. Kevin Smith received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Original Screenplay, while Jason Lee received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor.
With a budget of $250,000, the film grossed around $12,000,000 in theaters, and is seen as a huge financial success.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Chasing Amy: Synopsis". View Askew Productions. http://viewaskew.com/chasingamy/synopsis.html. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
- ^ "Chasing Amy (1997)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chasingamy.htm. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
- ^ Vasconcellos, Eduardo (July 28, 2007). "IGN: SDCC 07: More Chasing Amy On The Way". Dvd.ign.com. http://dvd.ign.com/articles/808/808934p1.html. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
- ^ ""Kevin Smith High on Blu-ray"". Home Media Magazine. November 26, 2008. http://www.homemediamagazine.com/high-def/kevin-smith-high-blu-ray-13972. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
- ^ Scooped by Steven Kirkham, Robert Jamieson, James Turner (March 29, 2009). ""Vancouver Q&A: What We Learned..."". News Askew. http://www.newsaskew.com/2009/03/29/vancouver-qa-what-we-learned/. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
- ^ Vizmedia.com
- ^ ""The Hows and Whys of 'Chasing Amy'"". Criterion.com. http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/79. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
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