The third time out is the real charm for writer-director Kevin Smith, whose "Chasing Amy" is a scruffy gem and a terrific rebound from the sophomore jinx that usually plagues filmmakers who have won big at Sundance with their first film, in Smith's case the raggedly poetic "Clerks".
Those who wrote Smith off as a one-shot wonder after his slackered second offering, "Mallrats", will be pleasantly surprised by this Miramax release, a complex and juicy slant on the vagaries of modern-day relationships.
While "Chasing Amy" will undoubtedly entice viewers on the select-site/art house circuit -- it should do especially well in university venues -- Miramax might muster some of its vaunted marketing savvy to vault this one into the mainstream, where it could prove a welcome respite from fires, snakes and Dennis Rodman.
Billed (with a lot of tongue in cheek) as the third part of Smith's "New Jersey Trilogy", "Chasing Amy" is, in essence, a fractured modern-day love triangle. Befitting the time and setting, this menage a trois is not among princes and princesses but among three comic-book writers, two male and one female. The latter, it turns out, prefers females.
Starring Ben Affleck as Holden and Jason Lee as Banky, pals since grade school and the partner-creators of a cult-hit comic book "Bluntman and Chronic", and Joey Lauren Adams as a feminist comic-book artist Alyssa, "Chasing Amy" gyrates around their intercrossed relationships.
Like the great Greek thinkers, Garden-Stater Smith knows there are different kinds of love: buddy love, hetero love, self love, comic-book love and mixed-bag love. That's the territory Smith barrels into when Holden falls big time for Alyssa. And most incredibly and wisely, it's good old, comfy platonic love that seems to be the potion that awakens and barrels the characters to self-awareness.
Indeed, out of the mouths of these New Jersey-ites comes modern-day love sagacity as the three main characters battle their inner conflicts. All three ricochet against each other, their "truths and realities" butted by their emotions and conflicts. What is best about Smith's dramaturgy is that the central conflict of "Chasing Amy" -- establishing a relationship in the 1990s -- is propelled by the inner demons and insecurities of these very conflicted characters.
Fleshing out Smith's blunt and brainy dialogue and imbuing it with resonant emotional texture are the marvelously edgy lead performances. Affleck is sympathetic and credible as the love-smitten Holden, while Lee is terrific as his needy, macho partner. As the elusive Alyssa, Adams' layered performance is, perhaps, the film's standout. She shows both the strengths and insecurities of a woman who has dared to try all things. In a supporting role, Jason Mewes is a hoot as a bonehead chorus.
One of the odd delights of this mini-budgeted masterwork is that unlike his generational peers, Smith does not gum up the works with showy, MTV-style camera histrionics. But then when you write dialogue as good as Smith's (look for major writing awards down the line) you don't need to pad, distract or dazzle. He films in simple two-shots and it's just fine.
Tech contributions are smart and telling, especially costume designer Christopher Del Coro's not-so-finery duds, which give us major character clues. Praise also to production designer Robert Holtzman for the eclectic settings, again indicative of characters chasing and searching for their own identity.
CHASING AMY
Miramax Films
A View Askew Prod.
A Film by Kevin Smith
Producer:Scott Mosier
Screenwriter-director:Kevin Smith
Associate producer:Robert Hawke
Executive producer:John Pierson
Director of photography:David Klein
Production designer:Robert Holtzman
Editors:Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier
Line producer:Derrick Tseng
Costume designer:Christopher Del Coro
Sound mixer:William Kozy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Holden McNeil:Ben Affleck
Banky Edwards:Jason Lee
Alyssa Jones:Joey Lauren Adams
Hooper:Dwight Ewell
Jay:Jason Mewes
Running time -- 105 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Those who wrote Smith off as a one-shot wonder after his slackered second offering, "Mallrats", will be pleasantly surprised by this Miramax release, a complex and juicy slant on the vagaries of modern-day relationships.
While "Chasing Amy" will undoubtedly entice viewers on the select-site/art house circuit -- it should do especially well in university venues -- Miramax might muster some of its vaunted marketing savvy to vault this one into the mainstream, where it could prove a welcome respite from fires, snakes and Dennis Rodman.
Billed (with a lot of tongue in cheek) as the third part of Smith's "New Jersey Trilogy", "Chasing Amy" is, in essence, a fractured modern-day love triangle. Befitting the time and setting, this menage a trois is not among princes and princesses but among three comic-book writers, two male and one female. The latter, it turns out, prefers females.
Starring Ben Affleck as Holden and Jason Lee as Banky, pals since grade school and the partner-creators of a cult-hit comic book "Bluntman and Chronic", and Joey Lauren Adams as a feminist comic-book artist Alyssa, "Chasing Amy" gyrates around their intercrossed relationships.
Like the great Greek thinkers, Garden-Stater Smith knows there are different kinds of love: buddy love, hetero love, self love, comic-book love and mixed-bag love. That's the territory Smith barrels into when Holden falls big time for Alyssa. And most incredibly and wisely, it's good old, comfy platonic love that seems to be the potion that awakens and barrels the characters to self-awareness.
Indeed, out of the mouths of these New Jersey-ites comes modern-day love sagacity as the three main characters battle their inner conflicts. All three ricochet against each other, their "truths and realities" butted by their emotions and conflicts. What is best about Smith's dramaturgy is that the central conflict of "Chasing Amy" -- establishing a relationship in the 1990s -- is propelled by the inner demons and insecurities of these very conflicted characters.
Fleshing out Smith's blunt and brainy dialogue and imbuing it with resonant emotional texture are the marvelously edgy lead performances. Affleck is sympathetic and credible as the love-smitten Holden, while Lee is terrific as his needy, macho partner. As the elusive Alyssa, Adams' layered performance is, perhaps, the film's standout. She shows both the strengths and insecurities of a woman who has dared to try all things. In a supporting role, Jason Mewes is a hoot as a bonehead chorus.
One of the odd delights of this mini-budgeted masterwork is that unlike his generational peers, Smith does not gum up the works with showy, MTV-style camera histrionics. But then when you write dialogue as good as Smith's (look for major writing awards down the line) you don't need to pad, distract or dazzle. He films in simple two-shots and it's just fine.
Tech contributions are smart and telling, especially costume designer Christopher Del Coro's not-so-finery duds, which give us major character clues. Praise also to production designer Robert Holtzman for the eclectic settings, again indicative of characters chasing and searching for their own identity.
CHASING AMY
Miramax Films
A View Askew Prod.
A Film by Kevin Smith
Producer:Scott Mosier
Screenwriter-director:Kevin Smith
Associate producer:Robert Hawke
Executive producer:John Pierson
Director of photography:David Klein
Production designer:Robert Holtzman
Editors:Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier
Line producer:Derrick Tseng
Costume designer:Christopher Del Coro
Sound mixer:William Kozy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Holden McNeil:Ben Affleck
Banky Edwards:Jason Lee
Alyssa Jones:Joey Lauren Adams
Hooper:Dwight Ewell
Jay:Jason Mewes
Running time -- 105 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/10/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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