Chasing Amy
Made by the same guy who made "Clerks" and "Mall Rats," neither of which I've seen, "Chasing Amy" is another journey into territory that's currently bright in the Hollywood spotlight -- lesbianism. Of course, the irony is that it is produced, written, and directed by straight men. And here my talons come out and some of you may begin to understand why I didn't even want to begin talking about this film in the first place -- because, to me, it is unworthy of extended attention. You see, it does not merit an actual review, for to give it that much notice is to dignify it.
Okay, I'm smoothing my feathers and dabbing at my eyes.
"Chasing Amy" has your typical boy-meets-girl beginning. Two best friends are hanging out and meet a nice girl. One of them semi-falls for her. After an encounter or two, it is discovered that she is -- you know, that way. In the first of countless scenes that would never ever happen in real life, the two guy buddies and this girl go out to a bar and have a lengthy, graphic discussion about their past trysts. Actually, the ever-hostile homophobic best friend and the girl discuss. The other boy -- the one who's smitten with her -- keeps an embarrassed silence. Which is how I'm feeling at this point, because these two are slobbering all over each other, giggling about things I'd rather people kept to themselves, if you catch my drift. There really is such a thing as too much information.
Inevitably, quiet boy and chatty girl get to be friends. Soon they are best friends. Predictably, he falls for her, hard. He confesses his love to her one evening in his car. Here's what I was curious to see. What would they do with a situation where someone who is one way is basically asking another person if it's possible that they could be another way? Think of it like this -- if there were two guys who were friends, and only one of them was straight, and the other one wasn't, and they both knew it, what would happen if the un-straight friend got a crush on the straight friend? Could the straight friend change?
According to "Chasing Amy," the answer is yes. After an initially ridiculous scene with screaming in the rain (I mean, really) and her telling him this is who she is, she ends up running back into his arms. A great speech followed by a total slap in the face to millions of people who are trying to get the world to understand that who they are is not a phase, a trend, or even a choice. Sure, it could happen in real life. I'm not saying it couldn't. But out of all the portrayals in the media, television, and film, here is yet another one that can comfort those who are squirmy about the whole issue. Well, she was, but she met the right man, so now she isn't. Right.
The rest of the movie just gets more and more ludicrous, with the happy couple soon hitting potholes when it is discovered that Girl has had many more...ahem, experiences...than Boy, including ones with the male persuasion. This freaks him out, they fight explosively, and there is a PREPOSTEROUS scene involving him, the girlfriend, and his best friend and a possible "solution" to the problem that had me crossing my fingers and toes they wouldn't go through with it. Thankfully, they didn't. Not that the movie could have gotten much worse as it was.
"Chasing Amy" then summed up all this tripe with a moral, of all things: It's not who you love, it's how you love them. Awwwww. That's two hours and seven dollars I'll never get back. Harumph.
P.S. I have friends who loved this movie -- they found it to be a witty comedy. To them I say: The makers of the movie intended it to be a drama. Please explain.