Chasing Amy (1997) ***1/2

Chasing Amy (1997) is not without its problems regarding its characters and portrayals but it's still a very good romantic comedy, in this viewer's opinion. You can certainly tell that the film was written by Kevin Smith (a hetero male), but personally I don't feel that invalidates it. There's no doubting that this film wouldn't get made today, at least not anything like how it turned out in 1997. 

In a way, I appreciate its now antiquated view of the LGBT world, if only to recognize that Smith, 26 at the time, was taking a risk with the subject matter (remember this was a mainstream film). Even if he was going to make a fool of himself (and even if large parts of the film haven't aged well)—he felt he needed to tell this story, from his perspective.

I do think there are parts of Chasing Amy that have held up well, insomuch as some of the dialogue still feels relevant and I think Smith's heart was in the right place. The filmmaking itself isn't terribly impressive and I don't think Smith could ever make a rom-com as good as Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995) (my review here)—as it seems to me that film and filmmaker was a clear influence—but I still appreciate the effort, even 24 years later.

You can find my Kevin Smith Feature Films Ranked list here.