October 4, 2024
FILM: CHASING CHASING AMY
DIRECTED BY: SAV RODGERS
STARRING: KEVIN SMITH, JOEY LAUREN ADAMS, SAV RODGERS
RATING: 3 ½ stars out of 4
By Dan Pal
When Kevin Smith’s film Chasing Amy was released in 1997 it was a big deal to have a character who’s sexual orientation was fluid. Joey Lauren Adams played a comic book writer who presents herself as a lesbian but then falls for a straight male played by Ben Affleck. The film was hailed and embraced for its frank depiction and discussion of the subject while also frustrating many others who saw holes in what was being displayed. One such person who falls under the former audience is filmmaker Sav Rodgers who recently made Chasing Chasing Amy about his own relationship to the film and how it sparked his own journey to self-discovery. Rodgers was born biologically female but began to transition while making this film.
Many people who love Kevin Smith movies (Clerks, Mallrats, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back) will no doubt want to see this documentary. (This assumes they haven’t already. The film began its festival run over a year and a half ago. I programmed it at Chicago’s Reeling Fest last fall.) There is, after all, an entire store in New Jersey which is centered on Smith’s films and characters. The documentary does address the inception of the script and film, its reception, and the views of Smith, Adams, and actor Jason Lee. However, it goes way beyond being just a making of featurette. Sav Rodgers discusses how the original film affected his life when he first saw it. He visits many of the film’s locations with his girlfriend while also interviewing Smith in his home. There is plenty of dissection of the characters among interviewees, including critics and other filmmakers. Complaints are addressed about the homophobia expressed in the film by Lee’s character and the fact that it is a man (Smith) who wrote and directed the film that some view as a male fantasy about converting a lesbian who meets the “right” man (at least temporarily.)
The documentary though spends other time addressing its director’s personal life coming out as transgender and his relationship with his now wife. It also explores the state of indie films in the mid-1990s when titles such as Clerks, Go Fish, and others received massive attention at the Sundance Film Festival. Now disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is also discussed as he was quite involved in the independent film scene at the time. As such, the film feels a bit disjointed at various points suggesting Rodgers was trying to tackle too many topics in this one documentary.
Still, it does serve as a great document about the impact of Chasing Amy on the culture and, in particular, a young Sav Rodgers. The climax of the film is his interview with Joey Lauren Adams which proves quite challenging to him, taking the wind out of the sails of the documentary’s production for a period of time. While some might say Adams is being honest in what she expresses to Rodgers, it’s hard not to feel a bit taken aback by how she turns the tables on him.
Ultimately, this is an interesting journey for the filmmaker who embraces and then let’s go of the earlier film. It should be of interest to anyone who loves movies, its creators, and/or the stories and discussions they provoke in audiences.
Chasing Chasing Amy is now playing theatrically.
FILM: CHASING CHASING AMY
DIRECTED BY: SAV RODGERS
STARRING: KEVIN SMITH, JOEY LAUREN ADAMS, SAV RODGERS
RATING: 3 ½ stars out of 4
By Dan Pal
When Kevin Smith’s film Chasing Amy was released in 1997 it was a big deal to have a character who’s sexual orientation was fluid. Joey Lauren Adams played a comic book writer who presents herself as a lesbian but then falls for a straight male played by Ben Affleck. The film was hailed and embraced for its frank depiction and discussion of the subject while also frustrating many others who saw holes in what was being displayed. One such person who falls under the former audience is filmmaker Sav Rodgers who recently made Chasing Chasing Amy about his own relationship to the film and how it sparked his own journey to self-discovery. Rodgers was born biologically female but began to transition while making this film.
Many people who love Kevin Smith movies (Clerks, Mallrats, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back) will no doubt want to see this documentary. (This assumes they haven’t already. The film began its festival run over a year and a half ago. I programmed it at Chicago’s Reeling Fest last fall.) There is, after all, an entire store in New Jersey which is centered on Smith’s films and characters. The documentary does address the inception of the script and film, its reception, and the views of Smith, Adams, and actor Jason Lee. However, it goes way beyond being just a making of featurette. Sav Rodgers discusses how the original film affected his life when he first saw it. He visits many of the film’s locations with his girlfriend while also interviewing Smith in his home. There is plenty of dissection of the characters among interviewees, including critics and other filmmakers. Complaints are addressed about the homophobia expressed in the film by Lee’s character and the fact that it is a man (Smith) who wrote and directed the film that some view as a male fantasy about converting a lesbian who meets the “right” man (at least temporarily.)
The documentary though spends other time addressing its director’s personal life coming out as transgender and his relationship with his now wife. It also explores the state of indie films in the mid-1990s when titles such as Clerks, Go Fish, and others received massive attention at the Sundance Film Festival. Now disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is also discussed as he was quite involved in the independent film scene at the time. As such, the film feels a bit disjointed at various points suggesting Rodgers was trying to tackle too many topics in this one documentary.
Still, it does serve as a great document about the impact of Chasing Amy on the culture and, in particular, a young Sav Rodgers. The climax of the film is his interview with Joey Lauren Adams which proves quite challenging to him, taking the wind out of the sails of the documentary’s production for a period of time. While some might say Adams is being honest in what she expresses to Rodgers, it’s hard not to feel a bit taken aback by how she turns the tables on him.
Ultimately, this is an interesting journey for the filmmaker who embraces and then let’s go of the earlier film. It should be of interest to anyone who loves movies, its creators, and/or the stories and discussions they provoke in audiences.
Chasing Chasing Amy is now playing theatrically.