• January 24, 1997Sundance) (
• April 4, 1997

Running time

Chasing Amyis a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The third film in Smith’s View Askewniverse series, the film is about a male comic artist (Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Adams), to the displeasure of his best friend (Lee).

• Awards
  • 5 wins & 16 nominations
• Kim
• (as Carmen Lee)
• Nica
• (as Kelly Simpkins)
• Director
• Writer
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• TriviaKevin Smith wrote the script inspired by his experience with then-girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams, who plays Alyssa.
• Goofs(at around 56 mins) When Holden is walking back to his car shortly after Alyssa leaves him in the rain, the camera crew is reflected in the window slightly to the left of Holden.
• Quotes Silent Bob: So there’s me and Amy, and we’re all inseparable, right? Just big time in love. And then four months down the road, the idiot gear kicks in, and I ask about the ex-boyfriend. Which, as we all know, is a really dumb move. But you know how it is: you don’t wanna know, but you just have to, right? Stupid guy bullshit. So, anyway, she starts telling me about him… how they fell in love, and how they went out for a couple of years, and how they lived together, her mother likes me better, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… and I’m okay. But then she drops the bomb on me, and the bomb is this: it seems that a couple of times, while they were going out, he brought some people to bed with them. Ménage à trois, I believe it’s called. Now this just blows my mind, right? I mean, I am not used to this sort of thing. I mean, I was raised Catholic, for God’s sake. Jay: Saint Shithead. [Silent Bob elbows him; Jay motions as if to start a fight] Silent Bob: Do something. [to Holden] Silent Bob: So I’m totally weirded out by this, right? And then I just start blasting her. Like… I don’t know how to deal with what I’m feeling, so I figure the best way is by calling her a slut, right? And tell her she was used. I’m… I’m out for blood. I really wanna hurt this girl. I’m like, “What the fuck is your problem?”, right? And she’s just all calmly trying to tell me, like, it was that time and it was that place and she doesn’t think she should apologize because she doesn’t feel that she’s done anything wrong. I’m like, “Oh, really?” That’s when I look her straight in the eye, I tell her it’s over. I walk. Jay: Fuckin’ A! Silent Bob: No, idiot. It was a mistake. I didn’t hate her. I wasn’t disgusted with her. I was afraid. At that moment, I felt small, like… like I’d lacked experience, like I’d never be on her level, like I’d never be enough for her or something like that, you know what I’m saying? But, what I did not get, she didn’t care. She wasn’t looking for that guy anymore. She was… she was looking for me, for the Bob. But, uh, by the time I figure this all out, it was too late, man. She moved on, and all I had to show for it was some foolish pride, which then gave way to regret. She was the girl, I know that now. But I pushed her away. So, I’ve spent every day since then chasing Amy… so to speak.
• Crazy creditsJay and Silent Bob will return in “Dogma” … (promise).
• Alternate versionsMany things cut from the final version available on laserdisc/DVD editions:
• SoundtracksLet’s GoWritten by Ric OcasekPerformed by Ernie IsleyCourtesy of Elektra Entertainment GroupBy arrangement with Warner Special Products

Whereas his first two movies kept referencing other films as soon as there was time to do so, Chasing Amy centers on Smith’s second great passion: comic-books. In fact, it all begins at a convention, where Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) and Holden MacNeil (Ben Affleck) are signing issues of their successful book Bluntman & Chronic. Afterwards, they hang out with fellow artists Hooper X (Dwight Ewell) and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), and while Banky spends all of his time arguing with Hooper over the racism in Star Wars (one of the funniest things Smith has ever written) or the gay subtext in Archie comics, something clicks between Holden and Alyssa, and soon enough they start seeing each other almost every day. It is obvious something deeper than friendship is in the air, and they both know it, yet there’s a catch: Alyssa is a lesbian, or at least she used to be one before meeting Holden. Hence the big question: can they have a meaningful relationship with her past being such a huge burden? What kind of sacrifices will have to be made?

• Holden and Banky are comic book artists. Everything’s going good for them until they meet Alyssa, also a comic book artist. Holden falls for her, but his hopes are crushed when he finds out she’s a lesbian.
• A pair of comic book authors named Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards, who live in New Jersey, have been best friends for 20 years. They spend their time working in their studio, and in the evenings they are going out. But their friendship is about to be disputed for the first time in their life, when a beautiful young lesbian woman named Alyssa Jones enters their life and Holden falls in love with her. Now Holden has to deal with Banky’s jealousy, and with his new girlfriend’s very rich past.—rsilberman
• Holden and Banky are two average guys who just need someone to bring out their hidden secrets. Enter Alyssa Jones and Hooper LaMont, two homosexuals who are slightly more experienced than the former two. Together, Hooper and Alyssa show Holden and Banky that being gay isn’t as bad as they might think. Meanwhile, Holden develops an ‘untainted’ love for Alyssa, one which she finally sees in him as well, taking Holden on a journey through the complexities of love in the 90s.—Simon Friend
• Holden and Banky are best friends and authors of a popular comic book called “Bluntman and Chronic”. Holden falls in love with Alyssa, also a comic book artist, who happens to be a lesbian. Holden’s new relationship with Alyssa strains his life-long friendship with Banky, and soon the relationship between Holden and Alyssa hits a wall due to Holden not being able to deal with her past.—Oliver Yun
• Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are comic book artists and lifelong friends. Holden is the calmer, more reasonable of the duo; Banky, meanwhile, is the caustic and short-tempered half. The story opens at a comic book convention in New York City where the two are promoting their latest comic series ‘Bluntman and Chronic’. After Holden breaks up a fight between Banky and an antagonistic fan, they attend a panel discussion where they meet Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams). She is a struggling comic book writer whom is friends with the African-American comic book writer and activist Hooper (Dwight Ewell) who puts on this militant image to hide his flamboyantly gay personality.That evening, the four go out for drinks together at a local bar where Holden is attracted to Alyssa based on their conversation during a dart game. Through Hooper she invites Holden to a get together at a bar she frequents. Banks comes along and while there Alyssa is asked to sing a song. During the song Banky notices that they are in a female gay bar and that Alyssa is singing the love song to a woman in the audience and not to Holden who thinks the song is for him. The four of them end up at a booth and Alyssa and Banky have an involved conversation about sex with women while Holden broods, visibly upset about Alyssa being a lesbian. However, they have discovered they are both from the same area of New Jersey and the two begin hanging out, and a deep friendship develops. During their discussions it is clear that Holden has a very narrow heterosexual view on male female relationships and sex in general. The new friendship does not sit well with the homophobic Banky, who dislikes and distrusts Alyssa and is bothered by the relationship that develops between her and Holden. Holden and Banky’s business relationship suffers as well — the two had been on the verge of signing a lucrative deal to turn Bluntman and Chronic into television show and Banky feels that Holden is no longer taking their combined efforts or the TV show seriously.Eventually, Holden is no longer able to contain his feelings, and confesses his love to Alyssa. She is initially angry with him and walks away. Holden follows her and they have a heated discussion about their relationship and she walks away again. Holden is confused and while returning to his vehicle Alyssa runs up, they embrace and that night the two begin a romantic relationship. Banky walks in the next morning and finds them together sleeping on his couch in the studio. This new development worsens the tension between Holden and Banky who distrusts Alyssa and that his friend is going to be hurt when the relationship fails. Banky runs across an old friend who grew up with Alyssa who tells him a sexual adventure story from Alyssa’s past. Banky reports to Holden that Alyssa participated in a threesome with two guys during high school, which earned her the nickname “Finger Cuffs” for getting it from both ends. Holden is deeply disturbed by this revelation, having believed based on their conversations about love and sex that he is the first man Alyssa had ever slept with.Holden asks advice from Hooper who tells him that if he wants his relationship with Alyssa to work, he must be honest and truthful and ask Alyssa about her past. Hooper also tells Holden he believes the issue with Banky is that Banky is jealous and in love with him and that his macho sexual banter is a disguise for his true feelings.The following evening, Holden confronts Alyssa while attending a hockey game and he clumsily attempts baiting her into confessing, which she eventually does, prompting her to storm out of the arena. During a tearful argument in the parking lot, she tells Holden about her youthful sexual experimentation involving men. She apologizes for letting him believe that he was the only man she had been with but justifies it by saying she could see that he took pleasure in the thought. However, she refuses to apologize for her past and Holden leaves feeling angry and confused.Later, during lunch at a local diner with the local stoners and drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), who were the inspiration for the Bluntman and Chronic comic book characters, Holden gives them their monthly residual pay for sales of the comic book. Here he confides in them about his troubled feelings and relationship with Alyssa. Speaking more than one line for the first time, Silent Bob mentions chasing Amy and reveals that he was once in a relationship “a couple of years ago” which was similar to Holden’s. Despite the fact that he was in love with his girlfriend, Amy, his insecurities about her adventurous sexual past caused him to sabotage the relationship and leave her. Angry at himself for letting her go, he has “spent every day since then chasing Amy”.Inspired by Silent Bob’s story, Holden devises a plan to fix both his relationship with Alyssa and his fractured friendship with Banky. He invites them both over and tells Alyssa that he would like to get over her past and remain her boyfriend. He also tells Banky that he realizes that Banky is in love with him… kissing him passionately to prove the point. Holden suggests that the three of them should have sex with each other in a threesome so he will no longer be envious of Alyssa’s broader experiences and it will resolve Banky’s issues with them as a couple. Banky reluctantly agrees to participate. Alyssa is appalled and refuses, at which Banky expresses his relief. Alyssa tries to explain to Holden why his plan is so wrong. Before leaving, she states that she will always love him but her past is in the past and she will not be his whore and slaps him across his face. Banky then leaves without saying a word.One year later, the story has Banky busy promoting his own new comic book at a convention in New York. It is revealed that Holden has dissolved their partnership over Bluntman and Chronic, leaving the viewer with the assumption that he sold the publishing and creative rights over to Banky (which is corroborated in the beginning of ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’). Banky looks over and sees Holden at a distance, who silently congratulates him for his success on the new book. Banky gestures over to a booth hosted by Alyssa who is promoting her own comic, and provides wordless encouragement with a hand gesture implying a coming together to Holden to go talk to her. Holden has a brief poignant conversation with Alyssa, and gives her a copy of ‘Chasing Amy’, his new comic based on their failed relationship. Holden asks her to contact him. After Holden leaves, Alyssa’s girlfriend (Virginia Smith) comes back to the booth and asks who that was. Alyssa feigns indifference,casually tosses his comic on the floor behind her and replies, “Oh, just some guy I knew.” She then turns to sign the next fan’s material.

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Now streaming on:”Chasing Amy” is a romantic comedy about people who write comic books for a living, and whose most passionate conversations can center on the sex lives of Archie and Jughead. Kevin Smith, who wrote and directed the movie–the third installment in his Jersey trilogy–makes these characters intense and funny. It’s all in the writing.