Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Wendy's Films of 2010 #65: Chasing Amy (1997)

I wasn't taken with this film from the get go, but as the seconds passed I was slowly sucked into the story, the ideas and emotions of the characters. I don't want to ruin too much, because I went into this film not knowing what it was about and it was that much better because of it. Synopsis? Holden (Ben Affleck), a comic book writer, meets and becomes infatuated with Alyssa, a girl who dates girls. Their friendship becomes complicated when he tells her he's in love with her.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stop staring at Ben Affleck's goatee. Now don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of the facial hair when it works, but on Ben it looks like a fuzzy marmot has been taped to his baby face. Yet Kevin Smith manages to suck you in nevertheless, with moments of sheer hilarity and utter sadness. Jason Lee is arrogant, yet strangely charming, so I thought he deserved a mention. The role played Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa) is one of a woman simply trying to be happy, regardless of labels determined by the world around her. Labels plague our lives - jock, skater, bisexual, straight, smart - so seeing someone attempting to shake the previously determined classifications of our culture is refreshing.

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