Chasing Amy
(1997)
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When handsome young comic book creator Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) meets cute young comic book creator Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), romance seems preordained. But Holden is soon confronted with Alyssa's complex sexual history, as well as his friend and colleague Banky's (Jason Lee) conflicted and enraged response to the affair. Despite the seriousness of the issues, director Kevin Smith keeps the laughs coming, even as Holden goes through hell and grows up. |
Writer/director Kevin Smith debuted with the hip, funny Clerks, then stumbled with the self-indulgent Mallrats. But he came up trumps again with this cool, hilarious and sexy romantic comedy in which Ben Affleck plays New Jersey comic-book writer Holden, who falls for pal Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), despite the fact she's a lesbian. In addition to the chemistry between the two leads, it has an insightful and even heartbreaking script from Smith, hilarious support from Jason Lee as Affleck's sceptical pal, plus Jason Mewes and the director himself returning as regular characters Jay and Silent Bob. (Fans of Smith's films will be delighted to learn that Bob actually speaks here, and in so doing utters some of the most poignant words of the film.) Watch out for a brief appearance from Matt Damon in what must be one of the hippest love stories of the 1990s.