Chasing Amy (1997)

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer (WGA):

Kevin Smith (written by)

Release Date:

4 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It's not who you love. It's how.

Plot:

Holden and Banky are comic book artists. Everything's going good for them until they meet Alyssa, also a comic book artist. Holden falls for her, but his hopes are crushed when he finds out she's a lesbian.

Plot Keywords:

Comic Book | Lesbian | Friendship | Gay | Jealousy

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Ethan Suplee	...	Fan
Ben Affleck	...	Holden McNeil
Scott Mosier	...	Collector
Jason Lee	...	Banky Edwards
Casey Affleck	...	Little Kid
Dwight Ewell	...	Hooper X
Joey Lauren Adams	...	Alyssa Jones
Guinevere Turner	...	Singer
Carmen Llywelyn	...	Kim (as Carmen Lee)
Brian O'Halloran	...	Jim Hicks - Executive #1
Matt Damon	...	Shawn Oran - Executive #2
Alexander Goebel	...	Train Kid
Tony Torn	...	Cashier
Rebecca Waxman	...	Dalia
Paris Petrick	...	Tory

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic sex-related dialogue, language, sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #35184) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | USA:R | Sweden:15 (video rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Finland:S (video rating) | Germany:16 | Israel:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Too Askew Prod. Inc.

Trivia:

Holden and Banky are both characters in J.D. Salinger's novel, "The Catcher in the Rye". (In the novel, "Ed Banky" was a gym teacher who would let students borrow his car so they could make out and have sex with their girlfriends.)

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Holden's radio mike is visible under his shirt in the CD store when he's talking to Hooper.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Comic Book Writer #1: I don't know. I love Chow Yun Fat. I just don't see him playing Madman.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Soundtrack:

Stay

Smith's best. Affleck's best. One of the greatest love stories ever.

Love stories are difficult to do well. So is comedy. Kevin Smith does both. Very very well.

Chasing Amy is, in my opinion Kevin Smith's best movie (Clerks 2nd, Dogma 3rd) and I really don't know where to start the praise.

Traditionally, Hollywood romantic comedies are... well, bad. Really lame PG-13 comedy, with some catch phrase repeated ad nauseum, and always some sort of "hilarious" incident involving a baby or a cute dog. And the characters are just as annoying as the lame jokes, so ultimately, you don't really care about whether or not they get together in the end.

Chasing Amy is different. These characters are lifelike.This isn't a romantic comedy for teenage girls. It's a movie for adults. Almost everyone can relate to being a situation where they've loved someone so much, but due to certain circumstances, you just weren't able to have that person. And I guess that's what Amy's all about. Unrequited love. Well, Unrequited love and sexual identity, but that's another topic for another day.

The real genius of this film is that for all it's serious themes, it manages to convey it's message without being at all pretentious. Most independent films have this sort of, arrogant pretentious "I'm so artistic" feel about them.......And I hate that. Smith's success lies in the fact that his movies are meaningful, and they're actually funny as well. And Chasing Amy is no exception.

In short, you'll be hard pressed to find a more entertaining, and realistic love story than Chasing Amy. It's combination of hilarious dialogue, interesting characters, and realistic themes makes it a winner.