It smacked of rom-com. The colour of the writing, all the characters on the cover, the woman taking up the majority of the space. The title combined with the imagery made it seem like There's Something About Mary, everyone after the same girl. It just didn't scream 'watch me'.
One lazy Sunday afternoon, the girlfriend and I needed something easy to watch to keep Monday morning at bay. She (a purveyor of the rom-com) reached for Chasing Amy and after a moment's pause, where I decided that if I had to watch a rom-com it may as well be one by Kevin Smith, I gave in.
Now that I've watched it, I'm disappointed by myself. Angry even. For allowing it to sit on a shelf, unwatched, for judging a book by it's cover. Due to my stupid film snob tendencies I was put off by an assumption, a rash one, and this meant that there was a delay in seeing one of the best films about relationships I have ever seen.
Clerks is good, very good, it's the one that everyone talks about and the film that saw Smith burst on to the scene, but Chasing Amy is better, it's braver, it's about something that not many people have tried to explore - The modern relationship, and the insecurities that come with it.
Ben Affleck is Holden, comic book artist, living and working with his best mate Banky (Jason Lee). All is good as their comic Bluntman and Chronic (based on Jay and Silent Bob of course) is a success. The only thing that is missing is the girl. Then he meets her, Alyssa, played by Joey Lauren Adams. She has it all, beautiful, smart, funny with an attitude. The only problem is she's a lesbian. Yes she likes girls. Don't be fooled into thinking it's a stupid, immature comedy about 'conversion' though, it's more about how sexual liberation and the modern obsession with openness has opened a whole can of worms, issues and insecurities. Ego's are dented, feelings are hurt, all because the people care and worry.
It's drenched in typical Kevin Smith dialogue. People speak how we all want to speak. I would love to bounce off other people with instant dry wit plucking an amusing simile out of thin air from my endless supply. It doesn't scream realism but it is great to watch. Highlights include a great exchange as to why women are to blame for men being bad at cunnilingus and why one character can't travel without taking an exhaustive porn collection. I know what you're thinking, it's a sex comedy. And to some extent it is, but not in an American Pie/Porkys guise. It's not a gross out comedy, more observational, like how you might imagine Jerry Seinfeld to be if he discovered sex all over again. And developed a potty mouth.
The quality in Smith's writing goes much further than just jokes and good speeches. Chasing Amy is a film that relies on, ok uses the well worn rom-com formula (i.e. guy meets girl, guy likes girl, guy get's girl, guy upsets girl, guy gets girl back, or does he?) but still manages to feel new and fresh. Part of that will be down to the irreverent humour, the unfamiliar behaviour of the characters for this genre, but a great deal of credit should go to Smith for creating a film with characters and situations that you really feel for. We aren't siding with the characters because convention tells us to do so, we are with them every step of the way because their insecurities are those that nag away at you when you first start seeing someone you really like. We have all been there. Amongst all the rough (and there is a lot of sweary sex banter) there are some gems, where you feel like you are getting an insight into the film maker's heart, none more so than when Silent Bob simply becomes Bob and the film get's it's title. It's a segment that all at the same time creates real emotional sympathy but also cuts straight to what the film is about and is trying to say. Smith's genius, acting and writing, making it all seem so easy.
It then digs deeper, much deeper than a couple trying to love each other against the odds, it addresses sexual tendencies and the prejudices that they create, the assumptions that we make everyday. The film constantly challenges what we believe and whether we could be accused of being homophobic or judging a book by it's cover. I consider myself to be very open-minded and accepting but I had to question myself a number of times as thoughts quickly jumped into my head. It's a remarkable achievement to have made something that has so many layers and says so much but on the face of it seems to be something quite simple and juvenile. Just like when Alyssa falls for Holden.
The screenplay also manages to stop Joey Lauren Adams' squeaky, whiny voice from grating by giving her enough interesting things to say that I didn't notice. That's unfair on Lauren Adams actually because she is very good in this. She has to be the loveable love interest at some points, a spunky independent lesbian at others and a bit of a bitch the rest of the time. It's a challenging role that she pulls off very well, despite that voice. The whole cast is very good to be fair, Ben Affleck before he went big on good form and proving that he can be engaging, we like him but we know he is making a pig's ear out of everything, Jason Lee as the best mate gets all the best lines, the along with Dwight Ewell camping it up as the gay representative, both there as comic relief but ultimately, as you quickly realise, there for much more than fluff round the edges, their superbly delivered dialogue makes you laugh immediately, then you have to stop to wonder whether you should really be laughing.
When I finished watching it, I said I thought it was one of the most important films I have ever seen. Although that might be over egging it slightly, it's the best example I have seen of a film exploring sexuality, questioning what society really thinks of homosexuality, the assumptions that we make everyday and, most importantly, what has happened to modern relationships through a generation of experimentation. Essentially it asks, and is reassuringly not arrogant enough to answer, whether we are ready for and actually better off because of sexual liberation.
See it.
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