Review of Chasing Amy (1997) by Lyndon G — 30 Dec 2009

It would be very hard for a movie to dig itself out of the corner this one paints for itself, which is striking, because I think it does. Both times I started off feeling it was a teen exposition going for shock value, taking the tone of introducing an audience who doesn't know yet, but about half way through I realized it was something different.

One side of the movie takes that mock sententious tone, but contributions of wisdom from the characters make you realize that the perspective has more depth. The movie feels very self-aware. Some of it plays like an exercise, and then you see characters making points in the same way, in exercises and examples.

For me that made the style copacetic, but it might not for you. The dialogue is often the kind too compressed to really happen, but it doesn't try to be too clever--sometimes particular characters try to be too clever, but the movie lets a little distance fill in.

Usually the movie then seems to disagree with what was said. The dialogue in Chasing Amy (and probably Kevin Smith movies in general) may have something on the Richard Linklater movies of the world, movies that can sound suspiciously like one person trying to be clever with many mouths.

Chasing Amy is fairly often embarrassing to watch, but I think the embarrassment comes from frankness. My favorite scene is one in a street level doorway between Holden and Banky, both sitting on the steps, Banky calmly explaining his concerns about Holden's lesbian girlfriend.

I just watched the movie with my mother and my sister; you may not believe it, but there are still people around who'll exclaim constantly how "disgusting" a movie is because it features a lesbian and talk about lesbian sex.

(By the way, the next day my mother had decided the movie was brilliant.) That makes me realize that it's way too early to kick back and relegate Chasing Amy to some R-movies for early teens shelf.

Anyway to placate my mother I told her I'd forgotten the movie had so much smutty talk (true) and I remembered it for the relationship between the two characters (true) because that's what was important (.

..) and I told her it was a damn fine movie and she should watch it--and if you haven't, so should you. On second watching, this is still my favorite Kevin Smith movie. I was 17 the first time (8 years ago) and while it seems different now and I repeated my initial doubts, it is no less powerful a movie.