Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy is 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).
| Chasing Amy | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kevin Smith |
| Written by | Kevin Smith |
| Produced by | Scott Mosier |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | David Klein |
| Edited by | Scott Mosier Kevin Smith |
| Music by | David Pirner |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release dates |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $250,000 |
| Box office | $12 million |
The film was originally inspired by a brief scene from an early film by a friend of Smith's. In Guinevere Turner's Go Fish, one of the lesbian characters imagines her friends passing judgment on her for "selling out" by sleeping with a man. Smith was dating Adams at the time he was writing the script, which was also partly inspired by her.
The film received mostly positive reviews, praising the humor, performances and Kevin Smith's direction. The film won two awards at the 1998 Independent Spirit Awards (Best Screenplay for Smith and Best Supporting Actor for Lee). Characters from the film would go on to appear in later Askewniverse films Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), direct spin-offs of Chasing Amy, with Affleck, Lee, Adams and Ewell reprising their roles in cameo appearances; Smith described the characters' roles in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot as being an "eight-page sequel" to Chasing Amy.