A Great Cheap Film (Chasing Amy (DVD))

Member Name: flutel

Product:	Chasing Amy (DVD)
Date:	28/05/09 (7 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Deals with the very stuff of life

Disadvantages: First few minutes don't grab you

I got this a birthday pressie a couple of weeks ago. The person who gave it me told me that it was her favourite film of all time. I looked at the cover, wasn't that impressed and admitted that I'd never heard of it before.



Anyway, I cracked open the box and sat down to watch and felt non-plussed by the first few minutes, feeling that maybe my friend's likes were somewhat different from my own. However, gradually, I became sucked in to the chewy themes that the film presents. The film's genre is given as comedy - but I think it does not quite fall into that. Comedy makes you think of screwball films with Jennifer Anniston (I like her by the way) - but this is not in the same league.



The characters reveal themseves rather like onions shedding their skin. One moment youare thinking that one of them is a fool and then, as time passes, you are forced to re evaluate your opinion. You may also start thinking quite highly of one character and then that opinion takes a nosedive as the character cannot escape from deeply held jaundiced beliefs and you watch in frustration as those beliefs destroy everything. Actually, in this case (Holden/Ben Affleck) you start to recover some regard right at the end of the film.



One of the film's themes seems to be about judgement - the judgement of other characters - and ultimately our own.



Another theme is about the journey it takes to arrive at the place that is called 'knowing yourself'. There are moments of this for all the main characters - and I think we, as the audience can empathise. We have all done unwise things in the past and many still do or are tempted to do crazy stuff. The film regards this behaviour with a healthy dose of compassion.



Who really wants 'perfection'? Not me. This is why I enjoyed the treatment of such interesting, ultimately life-affirming themes. I love films that get to grips with the 'what's it all about?'



If you haven't seen this film - give it a go. You can buy it really cheaply but I will forgive the friend who gave this cheap film as a present because the content was far from cheap.

Summary: Watch it and empathise!