Chasing Amy "What's a Nubian??"

Right OK this is a post I've been meaning to get around to doing for ages and so today I'm finally going to do it and the review in question will be on Kevin Smith's romantic comedy/drama, Chasing Amy, which is often regarded as one of his best films.  Is it???  Well let's find out.

And for a change two warnings apply, first off this review will feature some pretty explicit language (not by me but purely from the quoted dialogue of the film, which is typical for Kevin Smith!).  And secondly the usual one:

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

Right so to start off with the story it begins at a comic convention in New York, where the film's two main characters (two of three) Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) who are comic book artists, are doing signings of their comic book, Bluntman and Chronic.  Holden is even tempered and likeable whereas Banky is more aggressive and bad tempered but despite this they are best friends.  At the convention Holden and Banky meet another comic book artist, Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren-Adams) who Holden falls for immediately.

Later on one of Alyssa's friends, another comic book artist, Hooper X (Dwight Ewell) who poses as a black militant figure but is in actual fact gay, invites Holden to a club to meet up with Alyssa, which Holden immediately accepts.  At the club however as things seem to be going well with Alyssa, she get's up on stage and sings a song for someone who turns out to be woman in the audience and the two of them suddenly engage in a very passionate kiss, where it dawns on Holden that Alyssa is a lesbian.  Later the same night, Alyssa and Banky share stories of their individual previous sexual escopades and combined with this and Alyssa's sexuality revealed, this leaves Holden feeling deflated and he tells Alyssa they have to leave.

However soon after Alyssa turns up at Holden's apartment and they begin to hang out together and their friendship grows but its not long before their friendship drives a wedge between Holden and Banky, who is jealous of her.  And one night Banky confronts Holden asking him why he bothers hanging out with her as he has no shot at "getting her into bed" which forces Holden to admit that he is in love with her.  One night after Holden and Alyssa have dinner, Holden can no longer contain himself and he tells Alyssa that he loves her, although Alyssa is initially angry at this she returns her feelings as they spend they night together.

The next day Banky finds Holden and Alyssa on his couch and he leaves the apartment and goes downstairs outside where Holden sits next to him and Bank voices his concerns that Alyssa is really just messing with him and not really in love with her and that he is watching his back and doesn't want their friendship ruined by her.  Alyssa meanwhile confesses to her other gay female friends that she is in fact dating Holden which ultimately sees her being ostricised from the group.  However as things seem to be going well for Holden and Alyssa, Banky drops a bombshell on Holden as he tells him a story he heard from an old classmate from high school, Cohee Lundin who said he once had sex with Alyssa back in high school along with another student and local heart throb of the time, Rick Derris and she had the nickname "finger cuffs".  Holden at first dismisses the idea and get's angry at Bank and warns him to leave it alone, however the story get's to him as he believed he was the first man she had been with.  Holden then later voices his concerns to Hooper who tells him to simply ask Alyssa about her past and get it out the way.

So one night as Holden and Alyssa go on a date to an ice hockey match where Holden not so subtly probes Alyssa on her past and the incident with Cohee and Rick Derris where she flat out tells him what happened and she storms out.  Holden then has a row with Alyssa in the hockey arena car park where Alyssa angrily tells Holden some more of her sexual exploits with men but then apologises for not having told him about it before.  Holden however is left disgusted at the revelation and tells her that they can never be what he wants them to be: a normal couple and walks off, leaving Alyssa in tears.

Holden the next day has a meeting with Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) who he owes money to for likeness rights of their image as he used them as the basis for the characters of Bluntman and Chronic.  Holden tells Jay and Silent Bob about his problems with Alyssa and Silent Bob tells Holden that he went through something similar with a girl he used to be in a relationship with called Amy.  Silent Bob says that he found out that Amy formerly had threesomes before they met which left him angry and afterward he broke up with her.  Silent Bob however admits that he later regretted it as he just felt afraid and inadequate at his own lack of experience and that he knew she was the one but he pushed her away and ever since he has been "chasing Amy".  And this leads into the film's climax where Holden decides on what he should do to get over his own neurosis and put things to rights between him, Banky and Alyssa....

THOUGHTS

Well it has to be said that if Chasing Amy isn't Kevin Smith's best film then it is as near as, as it is a wonderfully written, charming and at times even moving romantic comedy where Smith manages to even take his usual dick and fart jokes and sexual humour and turn it into something special.  And Smith's main strength in his films is of course his writing and here his characters are all very well drawn and amusing as well but not only that they all have a fairly realistic feel even if they are slightly exaggerated at times.

Smith though had written the screenplay and based it partly on Joey Lauren Adams who was at the time his girlfriend and he even credited her in the credits for giving him something personal say, echoing the words that Holden says to Alyssa.  And like Mallrats before it, Chasing Amy also neatly links in references to character from the first film (e.g. Rick Derris, the school jock and Julie Dwyer, a girl who died from an aneurysm swimming in a YWCA pool) not to mention the Quick stop store from Clerks. 

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: explicit sweary words ahead!  Also this section is very big!)

As for the performances well they are all excellent and the fine cast are given some fine material to work with and they sure deliver on it.

Starting with Ben Affleck who gives one of his finest performances here as Holden, an amiable comic book artist who falls in love with Alyssa, a lesbian comic book artist and the two of them develop a relationship.

Affleck has quite a few highlights and notable scenes in the film and for starters there is the scene where Holden first meets Alyssa and they go to a bar along with Banky and Hooper.  And Alyssa asks if Banky is always bad tempered and Holden goes on to explain a bit about Banky's personality and how as a kid he even disputed the holy trinity with a nun at school.  And as Alyssa asks "How bad can it be?" Holden says "Well, have you ever seen a nun call a small child a fucking cunt rag?!".

Then there is the scene when Banky confronts Holden over his friendship with Alyssa giving him an ultimatum of it being either him or Alyssa.  And as Holden angrily says to Banky "Look, fuckin asshole, I'm telling you, let it go!" and Banky yells "What the fuck man?!  What the fuck makes this bitch all that important?!" and Holden yells back "Cause I'm fucking in love with her, OK?!!" causing Banky to go silent and walk out.

And one of Affleck's best moments comes when Holden declares his love for Alyssa and he delivers a lengthy, heartfelt speech to her which I will truncate quite a bit but mention.  And it starts with Holden driving Alyssa back home and he stops the car and he says "I can't take this" and Alyssa says "Can't take what?" and Holden turns to her and says "I love you" and there is a loud thunderclap and Alyssa looks stunned and says "You love me?".  And Holden delivers his lengthy speech "I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we're great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I'm sure that's what you'll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the-the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being".

And I will skip to the last bit where Holden finishes off saying regarding a painting Alyssa bought for him out of friendship.  And Holden says "Even if, you know, even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I am forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me, which - while I do appreciate it - I'd never need a painting of birds bought at a diner to remind me of".  And Alyssa looks at him for a moment and get's out the car and Holden sighs and says to himself "Was it something I said???  Fuck!".

Another good scene from Ben is when Holden is confronted by Banky again over Alyssa's sordid past at high school but Holden has had enough of it so he grabs Banky and slams against the wall.  And Holden yells "Well you let it go, OK?!!  I'm fucking tired of this shit!!  She's my goddamn girlfriend, can't you understand that?!!  Show her a little fucking respect!!  And I swear to God if you so much as mention that Alyssa looks a little peaked from now on I'm gonna put your fucking teeth down your throat!!" and he storms out.

And lastly there is the scene when Holden confronts Alyssa (there is alot of confrontation in this film!) over her past at an ice hockey match and later they storm out into the car park and row.  And as Alyssa explains about her high school sexual antics and how Rick Derris and Cohee both did her, Holden angrily says "Alyssa, there is a fucking world of difference between high school sex and getting FUCKED by two guys at the same time!!  They fucking used you!".  And as Alyssa shouts back at him "No!!  I USED THEM!!" and she then apologises for not telling him sooner about her already having had sex with men but Holden reufses the apology.  And Holden finishes by saying "I want us to be something we can't be?" and Alyssa angrily asks "And what's that?!" and Holden says "A normal couple" and he walks off.

Then there is Jason Lee who previously appeared in Mallrats as Brodie and he is excellent here as Banky, Holden's hotheaded best friend who feels theratend by Holden's relationship with Alyssa.

Lee also has some great moments such as the one at the start where Banky has an argument with a comic book collector (played by the film's producer, Scott Mosier) who insults Banky by calling him a "tracer".  And in the scene Banky launches himself at the collector and tries to throttle him and yells at him "I'LL TRACE A CHALK LINE AROUND YOUR FUCKING DEAD BODY, YOU FUCK!!!".  And security come and take away the collector who is heard yelling "YOU FUCKIN TRACER!" and Bank yells back "YOUR MOTHER'S A TRACER!!" and Banky yells to Holden "He's lucky I didn't put my pen through his thorax!!".

Then there is the next scene where Holden and Banky attend one of the comic con events that is hosted by Hooper X, posing as a militant black man but realistically Holden and Banky are just plants asking questions.  And in the scene Hooper talks about the Star Wars trilogy and how Luke Skywalker is a "Nazi post boy, blonde hair and blue eyes" and Darth Vader is "a Nubian God" prompting Banky to stand and ask "What's a Nubian?" and he get's a sharp reply from Hooper of "Shut the fuck up!".

Then later is the scene where Bank and Holden go to the bar and discover that Alyssa is gay as she passionately kisses a girl and Banky starts to applaud wildly but then suddenly looks around and has the dawning realisation that he is in a lesbian bar and he smiles and applauds again and says "Hot!".  And Banky turns to Holden (who teased Banky earlier by saying he had "a shared moment" with Alyssa) and says "Now THAT my friend IS a shared moment!".

And later as Banky and Holden sit across from Alyssa and her girlfriend kissing each other, Banky can't help but stare but Holden suddenly hits and says its rude and Banky says "But when are we ever going to watch this shit for free without paying for it?!".  And in the scene Banky tells Alyssa that he stopped going down on his ex-girlfriends as it got too frustrating and that girls should tell you what they want you to do and Banky says "You gotta handle it like CNN and the Weather Channel: constant updates!".  And just before Banky and Holden leave, Banky says to Alyssa "Since you like chicks, right, do you just look at yourself naked in the mirror all the time?" before Holden grabs and leads him out!

Then there is one of Lee's best scenes where Banky confronts Holden over his friendship with Alyssa and he decides to do a drawing of a man-hating dyke, the Easter bunny, the male-friendly lesbian and Santa Claus and a 100 dollar bill placed right in the centre of a four way road with each character placed at one of the four ways.  And Banky asks Holden "Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first? The male-friendly lesbian, the man-hating dyke, Santa Claus, or the Easter bunny?".  And Holden reluctantly says "The man-hating dyke" and Banky says "Good!  And why?" and Holden says "I don't know" and Bank then yells in Holden's face "BECAUSE THE OTHER THREE ARE FIGMENTS OF YOUR FUCKING IMAGINATION!!!".

And as the scene goes on Banky presses Holden harder as to why he is still hanging about with Alyssa and he angrily says "This relationship is affecting you, our work and our friendship and the time's gonna come when I throw down the gauntlet and say it's me or her. Then what are you gonna say?!".  And Holden growing angry says "I think you should let this one go!" but Banky continues "No, what would you say? Would you trash twenty years of fucking friendship because you got some idiotic notion that this chick would even let you sniff her panties, let alone fuck her?!!".  And Holden says "Look fuckin asshole, I'm telling you, let it go!!" and Banky yells back "WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?!  WHAT THE FUCK MAKES THIS BITCH ALL THAT IMPORTANT?!!" and Holden yells back "Cause I'm fucking in love with her, man, okay?!!" which silences Banky who quietly says "Fuck" and walks out the room.

Then there is the scene where Banky early in the morning arrives back at the apartment to find Holden and Alyssa curled up on his couch, he looks stunned and then drops his chocolate milk drink causing the couple to wake up and Banky then walks out on goes downstairs outside and sits on the doorstep.  And as Holden comes down and joins him, Bank looks across the street at a couple of catholic school girls and he muses "Catholic school girls. The uniform's what does it for me. I wish I had've went with more Catholic school girls when I was a kid. As it stands I have no, "And then she unzipped her jumper," stories".  And then Banky says how he is concerned that "this is all gonna end badly" and that Holden is way too conservative for Alyssa and that she has done things that Holden has only read about in books and that she may not really be in love with Holden and that its all just experimentation.

And lastly there is another good scene between Banky and Holden where Banky tells Holden the story about Alyssa back in high school and how she had sex with two guys and her high school year book gave her nickname as "Finger cuffs".  And in the scene as Banky fails to convince Holden to break up with her he says "OK?!  What if she is carrying a disease?" and Holden disgusted says "FUCK YOU!" and Banky says "Oh isn't it possible that she's all crudded up?!".  And Holden says "Okay, I'm telling you, she's never even been with a guy, much less these two fucking zeroes!" and Banky says "I'm telling you the bitch could be a bigger fucking germ farm than that monkey in Outbreak!".

Next up is Joey Lauren Adams who is great as Alyssa, the sexually experimental, lesbian comic book artist who eventually falls in love with Holden and unintentionally drives a wedge between Holden and Banky.

Joey has quite a few noteworthy scenes as her performance is really strong even though her voice does become a bit grating at times especially in her shouty scene with Ben (where Alyssa and Holden row at each other in the car park) but that aside its an excellent performance all the same.

And Joey's highlights include her opening scene where she announces herself to Holden, Banky and Hooper and she says "Hooper, how is it you sound like Minister Farakhan when you are on stage, and the king of pop when you're not?!".  And as Hooper camply says "Look out this kitten has a whip!" Alyssa says to him "I swear the next con I attend and they ask me to be on the minority panel, if I see your name anywhere near the List, I'm passing!".  

Then there is the scene where Alyssa and Banky share stories about their sexual escapades and the scene is played out as a homage to the scene in Jaws where Quint and Hooper show off their wounds they sustained from sharks.  And in the scene Alyssa even goes as far to quote the same lines as she betters Banky's story and she says "I got that beat!  I got that beat!".  And she throws up her leg to show a scar and she says laughing "Senior year.  Spring Formal.  I'm eating our Missy Kurt in her brother's car.  She's laying across the back seat, and I'm half-hanging out of the car, my knees on the ground.  She's flailing around, and she knocks the parking brake off.  The car starts rolling down the hill, and my right knee is cut up all to shit like a kiddy's scissor class cut it up for paper dolls!!".

Another good scene is when Alyssa out of the blue turns up at Holden's apartment a day or two after they met at the gay bar.  And Alyssa says to Holden "Hi, somebody told me they make comic books here and I've got this idea for a story about a guy who comes to club and hi-tails it when he finds out (faux whisper) this girl is gay!  Any interest in a story like that?" leaving Holden with a smile on his face.  

And one of Joey's best scenes comes when after Holden tells Alyssa that he loves her, she angrily get's out of the car in the pouring rain and attempts to hitch a ride but Holden goes after her and they argue.  And Alyssa yells "That was so unfair!  You know how unfair that was?!" and Holden says "Its unfair that I'm in love with you?!" and Alyssa "No, its unfortunate that you are in love with me!  Its unfair that you felt the fucking need to unburden your soul about it!  Do you remember for one fucking second who I am?!!".  And as Holden says that every relationship has a period of adjustment and Alyssa yells back "Period of adjustment?!!  THERE IS NO PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT!!!  I'M FUCKING GAY!!!  THAT'S WHO I AM!!  AND YOU ASSUME I CAN TURN ALL THAT AROUND JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FUCKING CRUSH?!!".  And Holden painfully says "If this was a crush I don't think I could ever take it if the real thing happened!".  

And then comes the scene at the ice hockey match where Holden not so subtly probes Alyssa about her past and how he tries to get her to admit that she had sex with Rick Derris and Cohee Lundin.  And in the scene as Alyssa teases Holden as she obviously knows what he is doing, Holden asks her "Rick pulled his dick out!  What did you?" and she says to him point blank "I blew him while Cohee fucked me!".  And Alyssa angrily says to Holden "If you wanted some background information on me, Holden, all you had to do was ask. I would have gladly volunteered it. You didn't have to go playing Hercule-fucking-Poirot!" and walks out.

And then they have their big row outside in the car park of the ice rink and Alyssa says to a disgusted Holden "Do you mean to tell me that - while you have zero problem with me sleeping with half the women in New York City - you have some sort of half-assed, mealy-mouthed objection to pubescent antics, that took place almost ten years ago?  What the fuck is your problem?!?".   

And last of all (SPOILER) is the scene when Alyssa breaks up with Holden as he proposes the ridiculous idea of a threesome with himself, Alyssa and Banky.  And Alyssa in tears says to Holden "I love you.  I always will, know that" and hugs him but then slaps him across the face and says "But I'm not your fucking whore!" and she grabs her bag and jacket and she walks past Banky and says to him "He's yours again!" and she walks out.

Dwight Ewell is also great as Hooper, a gay comic book artist who poses as a militant black, anti-white figure for his comic book rather dubiously named "White hating coon" but is in fact quite a camp fella off the stage.

Ewell's best scene is of course his first one where Hooper addresses a comic book panel as his militant character, Hooper X.  And in the scene Hooper references how Star Wars is all about white people keeping black people oppressed.  And he says to the audience "Always some white boy gotta invoke the holy trilogy. Bust this: Those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down, even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this shit: You got cracker farm boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes. And then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy, Nubian god!".  

And after Banky asks the immortal "What's a Nubian?" question Hooper says "Shut the fuck up!" and carries on.  And Hooper continues "Now... Vader, he's a spiritual brother, y'know, down with the force and all that good shit. Then this cracker, Skywalker, gets his hands on a light saber and the boy decides he's gonna run the fuckin' universe; gets a whole clan of whites together. And they go and bust up Vader's hood, the Death Star. Now what the fuck do you call that?!!".  And Banky stands up again saying "Intergalactic civil war?" and Hooper snaps back "Gentrification! They gon' drive out the black element to make the galaxy quote, unquote, safe for white folks. And Jedi's the most insulting installment! Because Vader's beautiful black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty, old white man! They tryin' to tell us that deep inside we all wants to be white!".  And Banky stands up once more and says "Well isn't that true?" causing an outraged Hooper to draw his gun and shoot Banky (with blanks!) and Hooper fires his gun at the ceiling as the audience scarper and he yells "BLACK RAGE!!  BLACK RAGE!!  I'LL KILL ANY WHITE FOLKS I LAY MY MOTHERFUCKIN EYES ON!!".  

And afterward Hooper walks off stage and up to Banky who continues to play dead and he taps him on the head and says to Banky "What's a Nubian?  Bitch you almost made me laugh!".

And last of all is Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith himself as Jay and Silent Bob, the inseparable drug dealing duo who turn up to claim their likeness rights money for their similarity to the Bluntman and Chronic characters.  

Starting with Jason Mewes in his only scene with Smith, he has some great lines such as his first one where Jay and Bob arrive and look at a downcast Holden and Jay says "Well look at this morose motherfucker right here!  Smells like someone shit in his cereal!  Nooch!".  And as they sit down Jay asks Holden "So why the long face, horse?  Banky on the rag?!" and Holden says "I'm just having a little girl trouble" and Jay says "Bitch pressing charges?  I get that alot!".  

And as Jay pushes Holden to tell him who he is dating, Jay says "I'm people who knows people.  Come on, I ain't playing mysterio!  What's her name?".  And Holde finally says "Alyssa Jones" and Jay looks surprised and exclaims "Holy fucking shit! Finger Cuffs? You're dating Finger Cuffs, you silly son of a bitch?!".  And Jay says after "Hey man, your a lucky fuck!  Did she ever bring bitches to bed with you?!".  And after Silent Bob finishes his story Jay says to Holden "Enough of this fucking melodrama.  My advice - forget her, dude.  There's one woman in the world.  One woman, with many faces!".  And as Jay and Silent Bob leave, Jay says to Bob "Man, why do you always have to tell that fucking gay story, man?!" and Silent Bob says "Shut up!" and Jay snaps back "YOU shut ya fat fuck!".  

And last of all (this has been quite lengthy!!) Kevin Smith who usually is very silent as Silent Bob, finally get's to deliver a nice little speech about Silent Bob's previous relationship and how it went sour.  

And Smith starts the scene by saying to Holden "You're chasing Amy" and Holden looks surprised and says "What did you say?!" and again Silent Bob says "You're chasing Amy".  And as Jay says "What are you so surprised for?  He does this all the time!  Fat bastard thinks just because he never says anything that'll have some huge impact when he does open his fuckin mouth?!".  And this pisses off Silent Bob who says "Jesus Christ, would you shut up?!  Yap yap yapping all the time!  Give me a fucking headache!".  And Silent Bob says to Holden "I went through the same sort of thing you did a few years ago with this girl Amy".  And he explains how they were in love but he asked Amy the question about her former sex life and she said how she used to have threesomes and he angrily told her afterward that its over.

And as Jay says "Fuckin A" Silent Bob says "No, idiot. It was a mistake. I didn't hate her. I wasn't disgusted with her. I was afraid. At that moment, I felt small, like... like I'd lacked experience, like I'd never be on her level, like I'd never be enough for her or something like that, you know what I'm saying? But, what I did not get, she didn't care. She wasn't looking for that guy anymore. She was... she was looking for me, for the Bob. But, uh, by the time I figure this all out, it was too late, man. She moved on, and all I had to show for it was some foolish pride, which then gave way to regret. She was the girl, I know that now. But I pushed her away. So, I've spent every day since then chasing Amy... so to speak".  

And lastly just before they leave  Jay says to Holden "Its a big world G, until the next time, keep your unit on you" and Holden says "I'll try" and Silent Bob says "No do or do not, there is no try!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

FINALLY moving onto the director and music paragraphs, Kevin Smith does a great job here with the film, well at least on a story writing, acting, dialogue and character development way on those levels this is just about the best stuff he has written.  On a technical level however Chasing Amy has to rank as his worst film as it was shot on a meagre budget of $250,000 so many of the scenes are shot in a very static way and alot of the camera movement is very shaky and hand held, which doesn't really lend to the aesthetics of the film.  However it still does have some nice lighting in some scenes such as where we see Holden and Alyssa lie in bed with one another and they are bathed in blue light aswell as the scene where they are in the car and Holden admits his love for Alyssa.  

But to be fair the film did have a very small budget, which was in part due to the commercial failure of Mallrats (which was a Universal studio picture and Chasing Amy was produced by Miramax).  And overall Smith did an excellent job with the film if you are willing to overlook at its technical presentation (or lack of) but for me it never takes away from the film much at all.

As for the music well the score was written by David Pirner of the band, Soul Asylum (of which Smith was a fan) which is a bit of an acquired taste as it really depends if you are a fan of all things Soul Asylum, which I personally aren't as I think the music is pretty mediocre.  The score has one or two good moments though such as the tracks that play when Banky gives Holden the "100 dollar bill" question and when Holden walks back to his car, drenched and heartbroken when Alyssa turns him down.  But overall its not that great a score and pretty forgettable in the end and its not one worth hunting out in a hurry.  However there are some additional songs, which aren't too bad such as "Jump Start" by The Hang Ups, "Puppy Love" by Barbara Lewis, "Live Wire" by The Meters and "Its your birthday" by Luther Campbell. 

FLAWS

As for the flaws....well yeah OK Chasing Amy isn't quite perfection and to start off I think one of the main problems with the film is the scene (SPOILER) where Holden decides the best way to resolve his neurosis over Alyssa's sexually daring past is to have a threesome with Alyssa and Banky, which is a bit of a ridiculous plot point in itself!  And it beggars belief jsut how Holden would think that this would even begin to sort his problems and as Alyssa rightly points out, its bound to create more for him.  But at this point the film goes from being fairly realistic into being just ridiculous and also just a bit cringeworthy.

Also it seems a bit bizarre that Holden would assume that Alyssa never had sex with men given that her adventurous and daring nature and surely she would have been into guys at some point.  But at this point it seems more like the film is more centred on Holden's ego and just how he feels great when in his mind he is the first man to have sex with Alyssa, when in fact he was anything but!

Another problem with the film is the character of Banky, who verges at times on being both homophobic (well he is really as he keeps saying faggot, cocknockers etc) and also quite mysoginistic, especially the way he keeps calling women "bitches" or lesbians "dykes".  And in one scene that didn't make the film (but was shot and still exists as a deleted scene) is the extended argument between Holden and Banky over Alyssa were Banky says to Holden that Alyssa went to North school and all the girls that went to that school were "bitches and sluts" and "this one has got them beat by a mile cos she is a bitch, slut, dyke!".  And its pretty unpleasant and offensive stuff right there and even though Banky is funny in the film, he does have some serious personal problems and anger management issues for him to spout all this stuff in the way that he does.  And in a way its a bit of a pity as Banky could have been that bit more likeable if Smith toned down that aspect of his character.

Anyways that its for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to FINALLY sum up this long ass review, Chasing Amy is easily one of Kevin Smith's best films and arguably his best one.  Its funny, charming and at times even touching and has got some great lines of dialogue as well as some very well written characters.  Its soundtrack is a bit of a mixed bag however and on a technical level as film its a bit of a disaster with its poor hand held camera work and static editing (although it is nicely lit in certain scenes as already mentioned).  But its easy forgive any of its technical problems as it very nicely written and acted film and after 20 years it still stands up well and is worth revisiting.

And so with that I shall goodnight and will be back with another review soon.

Till the next, keep your units on you and do or do not (there is no try!).