Chasing Amy

Chasing Amy is a light-hearted and intelligently written comedy of morals about relationships between men and women in today’s big-town America. Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards are friends and work together on the adventures of two comic-strip heroes, Bluntman and Chronic, a series that has acquired minor cult status among cartoon aficionados. One day they meet the cartoon artist Alyssa Jones. Holden is mad about her on the spot, but Alyssa turns out to be more interested in women. However she has no objections to a purely platonic relationship with Holden. Holden faces a dilemma. He isn’t interested in just friendship. Even Banky thinks that wouldn’t be enough. But Holden can’t get Alyssa out of his system. The more time they spend together, the greater Holden’s affection, and Alyssa also starts to acquire feelings for Holden she had not envisaged. Now Banky gets into trouble: he is in danger of losing his best friend and colleague. But is Holden only a friend? Or do other emotions play a role in their relationship? It is time for some soul searching.Kevin Smith does a wonderful job of capturing the slightly nerdy cartoonists’ world in a film that excels in fast, ironic and original dialogues – also a characteristic of Smith’s attractive low-budget début Clerks. Chasing Amy is however a richer and more mature film, both in its psychological sketch of complex relationships and in film technique.