CHASING AMY **** OF **** grade is A
Chasing Amy is the last and best of the Jersey Trilogy, it is also one of the years very best movies. This is a love story between real fleshed out people, and in a year where Titanic ruled our Box Office Chasing Amy rules my heart. It demands comparisons to Broadcast News (which was one of the best films in the eighties) and is almost as great as that film.
Holden (Ben Affleck - you probably saw him in Good Will Hunting)and Bankie (Jason Lee) are longtime friends, and very serious about the comic book Bluntman and Chronic, which has released cult status. At a comic book convention, they meet Alyssa Jones a beautiful comic book artist who seems to be a quick witted match to Holden. During a long game of darts in a bar he falls in love with her. He takes unnecasary long glances at her as they talk about love, his begining macho facade turns into putty in her hands.
Later she invites him to a bar through a mutual friend in Hooper (Dwight Ewell - very funny). There he finds out she grew up close to where he did. Then we have the revelation that she is a lesbian. This is met by shock from Holden, who's hurt you can see very clearly.
She notices his problem with this revelation and this is eased by a conversation. This conversation leads to others and scenes of them doing things boys and girls would do when they play with love, in search of the boundaries of their friendship.
Holden is also getting heat from Banky, who doesn't understand the relationship with Alyssa (You have no chance of getting her into bed!) and thinks it may be inmposing on their friendship. Is this just jealousy or is there something more with this relationship.
Later plot twists are discovered as the film gets better and better. As Chasing Amy slowly (and wisly) drifts from very funny to serious, with scattered laughs. Yet it never missteps, the twist towards serious is real and honest, driven by the characters. It is refreshing to see a film driven by the characters and able to drift with the characters (and their emotions) where every they may fall.
The only thing attacked in this film by the critics is Smith's direction. It is simple,... and perfect for the film. Artistic camera angles may not be Smith's speciality but it would have detracted from the film and it's impact. Not all films need to look like they were out of the pages of Scorsese or Paul Thomas Anderson.
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