This is the third of Kevin Smith's films, and I still hold it as his best work, to date. The story involves 2 best friends named Holden (Ben Affleck) and Banky (Jason Lee) who are comic book creators. At a comic convention they meet Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams) who is also a comic creator, and a lesbian. Alyssa and Holden quickly become friends, and soon after that, lovers. Banky learns about a past sexual encounter Alyssa was involved in, and after he reveals it to Holden, all of their lives change.
**spoiler alert** This movie had the perfect balance of comical dialogue and moments, to go along with dramatic, emotionally painful ones. The reveal about the prior encounter that Banky makes to Holden about Alyssa, is that in high school she had sex with two guys at once. This is "ancient" history, but Holden cannot seem to get past it. His passive aggressive confrontation with Alyssa during a hockey game was as masterful of an on-screen break up as I have ever watched. What is somewhat ironic about the arrival to breakup scene unfolding, is that Holden knew Alyssa had slept with multiple women, and she was continuing to do so prior to her relationship with Holden, somewhat casually, yet he clearly had no problem with the idea of this. This is another facet of Chasing Amy that takes this film to the "next step" of film greatness for me; it makes you think how you would react in a similar set of circumstances, and what your current perceptions are concerning your best friends and your lovers. As far the film portrayed - Banky felt protective of Holden (among other feelings), so he felt it was his duty to seek out the dirt on Alyssa to "watch Holden's back"; Holden felt betrayed in his own mind(perhaps crushing a fantasy?) about Alyssa having had sex with two guys when she was still in high school; Alyssa felt she had done nothing wrong as she was monogamous throughout her relationship with Holden, and was equally as disturbed with Holden's attempt to reconcile his relationships with both her and Banky - a scene as tough to watch as the aforementioned breakup scene.
For the comical moments Affleck and Lee work very well together on screen. A character named Hooper X (Dwight Ewell) provided even more fun at the comic convention; he acts as if he is a militant black man, when in reality he is a sensitive gay one. Jay ( Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) make a one scene appearance, and ironically Silent Bob makes the longest speech of the movie, including a line from which the movie's title derived.
Where Chasing Amy succeeds and does not make itself into a romantic comedy, is due to the ending. The friends part ways, with nothing said to each other (on screen, anyway), and the guy does not get the girl. The last scene was ambiguous and could be looked either with a sense of closure, or for the romantic, maybe a sense of hope.
All in all, I highly recommend this film as one to see, and to date, in my opinion, is Kevin Smith's crown jewel. 'R' rating is for language, both profanity and discussion of sexual situations.
Trivia:
- Kevin Smith wrote the script based on his own experience with former girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams, which is maybe why this movie was so believable on screen.
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