Poor man’s 500 Days of Summer: Both are romantic comedies with a twist, but I enjoy watching 500 Days more.
★★★★☆
This week Josh assigned me Chasing Amy. It’s the third movie in the View Askewniverse created by Kevin Smith. The film was released in 1997. I don’t know why, but Kevin Smith often leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it’s the vehemence with which his fans defend him. Maybe it’s the fact that all his movies need to be strung together into one universe for no reason other than for hipsters to giggle when Alyssa says her friend fucked a dead guy in the bathroom. While Josh is fully committed to Kevin Smith, I have a more complex view. I think his movies are great. I’ve liked all that I’ve seen, but for some reason the Kevin Smith cult still frustrates the hell out of me.
I really enjoyed watching Chasing Amy. The plot is a twist on the familiar unrequited love story. Holden (Ben Affleck) pines after Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams). The twist comes from the fact that the girl is a lesbian. What I really enjoyed watching was the dialogue. Kevin Smith is like some type of Aaron Sorkin/Quentin Tarantino mashup. Like Sorkin, the dialogue is fast-paced and reveals everything the characters are thinking. It also has zero realism because no human could ever speak with the eloquence or speed with which the characters speak in Chasing Amy. Like Tarantino, the content of the dialogue is frequent references and analysis of other films, except instead of obscure 70’s films, the script references all of my favorite films.
The essence of what I’m talking about is the Jaws fish story/cunniligus scene. After Ben discovers that his crush, Alyssa, is a lesbian, his best friend Banky (Jason Lee) and Alyssa begin talking about their worst experiences with women. From the booth they’re sitting in to the one-upmanship of the scars, the conversation is a clear reference to Jaws. Also, it’s hilarious. If for some reason you refuse to watch this movie, go find this scene on YouTube and watch. It’s amazing. In fact, why would I make you go to the trouble of searching for it. Here, a gift.
All characters in this film were genuine and I always felt like I could step into the shoes of each character and understand their point of view. I also felt that the film’s discussion of sexuality was frank and refreshing. It is definitely a topic that is difficult to do well, but I think that Chasing Amy did it very well. In the end, this movie is a romantic comedy that men and women can both enjoy. It is surprising, clever, funny, and emotional. It retraces the steps of many romantic comedies, but can still evoke feelings and deep questions in even the most hardened of skeptic. There is no surprise that many cite this movie as Kevin Smith’s best. It stands alone as a film that doesn’t need Clerks to be relevant or a great watch.
Chasing Amy is available for streaming on Netflix
Next week Josh will be reviewing Swingers. This is a movie that is the beginning of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau’s careers. It’s been available on Netflix for forever and when I watched it it took me by surprise by being funnier and more enjoyable than I thought it would be.
cinemateur 