To say I have an interesting history with Chasing Amy is an understatement. I saw this film in 1997 when it premiered at an art house cinema here in Orlando called the Enzian Theater. At the time, Kevin Smith was coming off of Mallrats, a film about a bunch of guys who hung out at the local mall in New Jersey. Some of them worked there as well. He used a few of his actors from Mallrats in his next film, Chasing Amy — Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Joey Lauren Adams among them. Adams portrays the title character. 

I loved this film because of its subject matter. The characters were comic book artists, and they were looking for romance. What I didn’t expect is that romance would be a man trying to turn a lesbian into a straight woman. That was a twist that was a pleasant surprise to me and my brother and friends who I watched the movie with. That concept never appealed to me as a white cis male. I enjoyed watching it though, and Chasing Amy is still my second favorite Kevin Smith film next to his original indie film Clerks.

Little did I know that this film would be a bright star for others, such as Sav Rogers, the writer/director of Chasing Chasing Amy — a documentary about his role as a trans man. His journey with Chasing Amy is also an interesting one. He never thought this film about a man chasing a lesbian woman and trying to turn her straight would change his life, but it did.

Rogers interviewed a bunch of the people involved in the making of Chasing Amy, including Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) and the director, Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa), Jason Lee (Banky), Ben Affleck (Holden), and  Scott Moser, the producer — in a talking heads style, but more free form. He also interviewed people from the LGBTQIA+ community as well to get different perspectives on the film and its relevance in today’s society. The documentary gives a good perspective on this community, the director’s journey with the film, and his transition throughout the process of making the film.

Chasing Chasing Amy runs the gamut on everything involved in Chasing Amy — including, yes, Harvey Weinstein — and uses a lot of archival footage from film festivals and late night talk show interviews. It even goes into how the lesbian community came out against the film. At the time, Chasing Amy was controversial because of its subject matter.

Chasing Chasing Amy is a sad, but also beautiful documentary. One of the best parts is about Riley, the director’s wife/girlfriend. She has stood by him through thick and thin, and this shows how love knows no boundaries even in this community. I felt for the director and was fully invested in his story, and how this little indie film from the ‘90s inspired him to go through this transition. He had a person beside them who cared for them no matter what they decided on doing.

 3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen