Smith isn't just fooling around anymore.
Chasing Amy (1997)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:20
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Chasing Amy explores gender roles, sexual mores, and the limits of friendship with a mixture of sensitivity, raw honesty, and director/screenwriter Kevin Smith's signature raunchy humor.
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Kevin Smith's third film was critically acclaimed for its adroitness in balancing complex, adult sexual issues with jokes about bodily functions. The two Garden State guys this time around are... Kevin Smith's third film was critically acclaimed for its adroitness in balancing complex, adult sexual issues with jokes about bodily functions. The two Garden State guys this time around are Holden (Ben Affleck) and Banky (Jason Lee). At a comic book convention, the co-creators of "Bluntman and Chronic" meet Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a New Jersey native who draws a comic entitled "Idiosyncratic Routine." Holden thinks they click, but proceeds to discover that Alyssa is a lesbian--then manages to convince her to take a chance on him anyway. The real conflict comes when Holden gets hung up on Alyssa's checkered sexual past. What's more, Banky mounts an anti-Alyssa campaign whose intensity and bile Holden can't understand. The script came out of Smith's real-life relationship with Adams, and represents a flowering of the themes of friendship and sexual jealousy which the director first explored in CLERKS. Smith fans can rest assured, however, that STAR WARS is discussed (this time as a racist allegory) and that Jay and Silent Bob do appear to dispense relationship wisdom (and collect royalties for their comic book likenesses). [More]
Starring: Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell
Starring: Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Casey Affleck, Guinevere Turner, Brian O'Halloran, Matt Damon, Ethan Suplee, Scott Mosier, Carmen Lee, Dan Lunney, Tony Torin, Rebecca Waxman, Paris Petrick, Welker White, Kelli Simpkins, John Willyung, Tsemach Washington, Ernie O'Donnell, Kristin Mosier, Virginia Smith
Director: Kevin Smith
Director: Kevin Smith
Composer: David Pirner
Producer: John Pierson, Robert Hawk, Scott Mosier
Screenwriter: Kevin Smith
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Release:
Jun 13, 2000
Reviews for Chasing Amy
The third time out is the real charm for writer-director Kevin Smith.
Neither PC nor crudely anti-PC, this tough and tender movie, like its characters, is prepared to take emotional risks, and the comic book milieu is deftly sketched in.
Instead of cool twenty-something irony, Smith startles us with raw emotional honesty.
Can a script exploring some truly deep questions about human sexuality and emotions be any shoddier and wooden? Will Miramax continue to fund one of the worst directors in the business? Don’t stay tuned.
It's a rude blast of gleeful provocation, a farce about emotional pain, a drama about sexual slapstick.
Work of such fierce intelligence and emotional honesty that it blows away the competition when it comes to contemporary romantic comedy.
It could prove to be as bad a date movie for some couples as it might be a real turn-on for others. Anyone with set ideas about sex roles or orientations is likely to get steamed.
Lacks insight and finesse, and feels like a boldfaced Rorschach for Smith's own hang-ups.
This movie is about something, and the deeper we get into it, the more we realize how emotionally on-target the script is.
As Chasing Amy redefines the boy-meets-girl formula for a culture where anything goes, including perhaps another boy or girl, it thrives on Smith's dry, deadpan direction.
As funny as the observational outrage humor of Clerks, but Smith is working harder.
The script eventually gets beyond the pop-culture jokes and starts dealing frankly and intelligently with the problems of three people who are defined by their pasts.
A brutally honest romance. If you loved Sleepless in Seattle, you'll just hate it.
While the surface of his film sparkles with sharp, ironic dialogue, deeper issues are forming, and Chasing Amy develops into a film of touching insights.
What Smith does best in Chasing Amy is write clever, raunchy and emotionally true-to-life dialogue, particularly in the arguments between Holden and Alyssa.
Latest News for Chasing Amy
January 17, 2008:
Kevin Smith's Porno Adds Five
Just in time for filming to begin, Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno has added five new faces to its cast. More...
July 20, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Lady" Is All Wet; "Ex" Is Not Super; "House" Is Scary, "Clerks" Is Funny
This week we've got some magic in ordinary dwellings (M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" and "Monster House") and some funny couples ("My Super... More...
June 19, 2006:
"Clerks II" Getting Some Premature Critical Love
After screening at Cannes to an eight-minute standing ovation, "Clerks II" is beginning to garner precious positive reviews from print and online critics, who have... More...
February 08, 2006:
Affleck & Damon to Reunite for Disney Drama
Variety reports that old buddies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will reunite to star in a Disney-backed "based on actual events" legal drama. And it's not a Kevin Smith... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 67% 67% | Public Enemies |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 95% 95% | The Cove |
| 85% 85% | World's Greatest Dad |
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