Thankfully, Smith has brought back the thought-provoking relationships and issues that made "Clerks" so successful. Unfortunately, it lacked the acerbic wit of "Clerks" or the juvenile yet effective humor of "Mallrats." Jokes/funny situations were few and far between, and it was disappointing that the anchors of the universe--that is, Jay and Silent Bob--were only present for one scene. Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee still couldn't act as of 1997, apparently. However endearingly the characters were written, however realistically their struggles portrayed: we can't bring ourselves to care about them because the actors were unconvincing. And as of "Chasing Amy," Kevin Smith still hasn't mastered the fine art of selecting an effective score. It was pretty bad. The music is supposed to be there to enhance the moment; instead it was distracting because it was so out of place. All said, "Chasing Amy" is pretty uneven. Some parts of the dialogue really hit the mark, some parts, well, didn't. I like the continuous yet slightly disjointed universe of Kevin Smith movies--they owe much to the personas of Jay and Silent Bob--I like how Smith keeps hiring the same actors. Yeah, maybe it wasn't planned, but the deja-vu still works as a charming reminder of the familiar. The triangle relationship in "Chasing Amy" was interesting: but only that. In the end we've conducted an emotional study, but we haven't reaped any results. The film ends on an unresolved note, which works in suspense thrillers, but not here, really.
Rating: B- (First viewing, 9/21/00)
* A great surprise: Matt Damon appearing for about 30 seconds! I forgot he was in this movie.