Chasing Amy (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

September 27, 2003 by Dennis Amith

MOVIE COMPANY: MIRAMAX FILMS/VIEW ASKEW
CAST: Starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes.
DIRECTED BY: Directed by Kevin Smith
PRODUCED BY: Scott Mosier
RATING: Rated R
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0118842
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy, Drama, Romance
DURATION: 113 minutes

CHASING AMY is the third installment in the “New Jersey Trilogy” from award-winning writer/director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma). Cult comic-book artist Holden (Ben Affleck) falls in love with fellow artist Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), only to be thwarted by her sexuality, the disdain of his best friend Banky (Jason Lee), and his own misgivings about himself, filled with Smith’s unique ear for dialogue and insight into relationships. CHASING AMY offers a thoughtful, funny look at now perceptions alter lives, and how obsession and self-doubt skew reality.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Widescreen, Dolby, AC-3
• Commentary by director Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier and actors Ben Affleck and Jason Mewes, associate producer Robert Hawk, Miramax executive Jon Gordon and View Askew historian Vincent Pereira
• Production notes
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Ten Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• Special Poster Insert: The Askewniverse Legend: a guide to characters in the New Jersey Trilogy
• New Video Introduction To the DVD Edition From Director Kevin Smith
• Video Introductions From the Cast and Crew
• Widescreen anamorphic format

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S):

Test pattern introduction (Criterion version):
Select the “Color Bars” option at the main menu to view short introductions to the test patterns by various stars from the movie.

DVD REVIEW:

I have to admit that I didn’t really understand the hype about Kevin Smith’s first movie “CLERKS” aside it being low-budget and unique, the storyline didn’t appeal to me. But after watching his fourth movie, “DOGMA”, I had to check out the other movies he has done and his third movie, “CHASING AMY” is quite intriguing.

I must admit that at first I didn’t know what to expect from Kevin Smith in this movie but after seeing the performances between Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams, all I can say is powerful.

Since this movie is again low-budget ($200,000) to make, I think Kevin Smith and crew did a great job! I was impressed they had a digital 5.1 soundtrack and the video had certain spots especially during the end of the rain scene and afterwards but again, this is a low-budget movie and I’m not going to hold them on that. This is a very awesome movie and I have more respect for Smith and his work now. Awesome!

As for the extras on this DVD, this is a CRITERION COLLECTION and it has a lot of extras. But the extras are from the Laserdisc version. In fact, the introduction included on this DVD is Smith addressing a certain quote on the beginning commentary of the movie regarding DVD on the LD commentary. So, since I don’t own the LD, I’m not disappointed, although others maybe. What I enjoyed about this movie aside from the deleted scenes and the powerful acting is the commentary. Very fun stuff from the guys this time and you can hear them! Something I bitched about on the CLERKS DVD.

What I like about this DVD is that it covers something that I don’t see in other movies, how to deal with a relationship with someone who has had certain sexual situations in the past. Interesting!

So, this is definitely a highly recommended movie. Check it out!

THE MOVIE: A
THE DVD EXTRAS: A
THE DVD OVERALL: A