Chasing Amy

Chasing Amy

Writer-director Kevin Smith (Clerks) makes a huge leap in sophistication with this strong story about a comic-book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams) and actually gets his wish that she love him, too. Their relationship is attacked, however, by his business partner (Jason Lee), who pulls a very unsubtle Iago act to cast doubt over the whole affair. The film has the same sense of insiderness as Clerks--this time, Smith takes us within the arcane, funny world of comic-book cultism--but the themes of jealousy, deceit, and the high price of growing up enough to truly care for someone make this a very satisfying movie. --Tom Keogh

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Production: Miramax Films
  Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 15 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.3
Metacritic:
71
Rotten Tomatoes:
88%
R
Year:
1997
113
6,030 Views
It's not who you love. It's how.
Sex is easy. Love is hard.
Finally, a comedy that tells it like it feels.

Alyssa:
Why are we stopping?

Holden:
Because I can't take this.

Alyssa:
Can't take what?

Holden:
I love you.

Alyssa:
You love me?

Holden:
I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we're great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I'm sure that's what you'll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. And I know that you think of me as just a friend, and crossing that line is the furthest thing from an option you would ever consider. But I had to say it. I just, I can't take this anymore. I can't stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can't, I can't look into your eyes without feeling that, that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can't talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are. And I know this will probably queer our friendship - no pun intended - but I had to say it, because I've never felt this way before, and I don't care. I like who I am because of it. And if bringing this to light means we can't hang out anymore, then that hurts me. But God, I just, I couldn't allow another day to go by without just getting it out there, regardless of the outcome, which by the look on your face is to be the inevitable shoot-down. And, you know, I'll accept that. But I know... I know that some part of you is hesitating for a moment, and if there is a moment of hesitation, then that means you feel something too. All I ask, please, is that you just, you just not dismiss that - and try to dwell in it for just ten seconds. Alyssa, there isn't another soul on this f***ing planet who has ever made me half the person I am when I'm with you, and I would risk this friendship for the chance to take it to the next plateau. Because it is there between you and me. You can't deny that. Even if, you know, even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I'm forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me, which - while I do appreciate it - I'd never need a painting of birds bought at a diner to remind me of.

Collector:
So, you draw this comic, or what?

Banky:
[sighs] I ink it. I'm also the colorist. The guy next to me draws it, but we both came up with the characters. Next.

Collector:
What's that mean, you "ink" it?

Banky:
Well, it means that Holden draws the pictures in pencil, and then he gives it to me to go over in ink. Next!

Collector:
So, basically, you just trace.

Banky:
[annoyed] It's not "tracing", alright? I add depth and shading to give the image more definition. Only then does the drawing truly take shape.

Collector:
No, no. You go over what he draws with a pen. That's tracing.

Banky:
[getting angry] Not really. Next!

[The Collector turns to the kid next in line]

Collector:
Hey, lemme ask you something. If somebody draws something, and you draw, like, right on top of it without going outside the original designated art, what do you call that?

Little Kid:
I dunno, man...tracing?

Collector:
[triumphantly] See?

Banky:
You want your book signed or what?

Collector:
Hey, hey! Don't get snippy with him just because you've got a problem with your station in life!

Banky:
Oh, I'm secure with what I do.

Collector:
Then just say it — you're a tracer!

Banky:
[about to lose it] Who should I sign it to?

Little Kid:
I don't want you to sign it. I want the guy who draws Bluntman and Chronic to sign it. [snatches the comic away] You're just a tracer.

Collector:
Tell him, little shaver.

[Banky attacks him until Holden pulls him away. The Collector is escorted out by security]

Collector:
You're mucking with a "G", you f***ing tracer!

Banky:
I'LL TRACE A CHALK OUTLINE AROUND YOUR DEAD BODY, YOU F***!

Holden:
Could you get him out of here?

Hooper:
For years in this industry, whenever an African American character, hero or villain, was introduced - usually by white artists and writers - they got slapped with racist names that singled them out as Negroes. Now, my book, "White-Hating Coon," don't have none of that bullshit. The hero's name is Maleekwa, and he's descended from the black tribe that established the first society on the planet, while all you European motherfuckers were hiding out in caves and sh*t, all terrified of the sun. He's a strong role model that a young black reader can look up to. Cause I'm here to tell you, the chickens is coming home to roost, y'all. The black man's no longer gonna play the minstrel in the realm of comics and sci-fi fantasy. We keepin' it real, and we gonna get respect by any means necessary.

Holden:
Ah, come on, that's a bunch of horse sh*t! Lando Calrissian was a black guy. You know, and he got to fly the Millennium Falcon, what's the matter with you?

Hooper:
Who said that?

Holden:
I did! Lando Calrissian is a strong role-model in the realm of science fiction/fantasy.

Hooper:
F*** Lando Calrissian! Uncle-Tom n*gger! Some white boy's always gotta bring up the "Holy Trilogy". But those movies is all about how the white man keeps the brotha man down, even in a galaxy far far away. Check this sh*t. You got cracker farm boy, Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes. And then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy, Nubian god!

Banky:
What's a "Nubian"?

Hooper:
Shut the f*** up! Now, Vader, he's a spiritual brother, down with the Force and all that good sh*t. Then this cracker, Skywalker, gets his hands on a lightsaber and the boy decides he's gonna run the f***ing universe; gets a whole clan of whites together and they go and bust up Vader's hood, the Death Star. Now, what the f*** do you call that?

Banky:
Intergalactic Civil War?

Hooper:
Gentrification! They gon' drive out the black element to make the galaxy quote, unquote, "safe for white folks." And Jedi is the most insulting installment! Because Vader's beautiful black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty, old white man! They tryin' to tell us that deep inside we all wants to be white!

Banky:
Well isn't that true? [Hooper pulls out a gun and shoots Banky]

Silent Bob:
[to Holden, who has just revealed his trouble with Alyssa] You're Chasing Amy.

Holden:
What? What did you say?

Silent Bob:
You're Chasing Amy.

Jay:
What do you look so shocked for, man, fat bastard does this all the time. He thinks just cause he doesn't say anything, it'll have some impact when he does open his f***in' mouth...

Silent Bob:
[to Jay] Jesus Christ, why don't you shut up? You're always yap-yap-yappin' all the time, you're givin' me a f***in' headache. [to Holden] I went through something like what you're talkin' 'bout, 'couple years ago, this chick named Amy.

Jay:
When?

Silent Bob:
[annoyed] A couple of years ago?

Jay:
What'd she live in Canada or something? Why don't I remember this?

Silent Bob:
B*tch, what you don't know about me I could just about squeeze in the Grand f***ing Canyon. Did you know I always wanted to be a dancer in Vegas? [does a quick dance hands gesture] Bet you didn't even know that sh*t, did you?

Jay:
[bored] Just tell your f***in' story so we can get out of here and smoke this.

Silent Bob:
[to Holden] So there's me an' Amy, and we're all inseparable, right? Just big time in love. And then about four months down the road, the idiot gear kicks in, and I ask about the ex-boyfriend, which, as we all know, is a really dumb move, but you know how it is - you don't really want to know, but you just have to know, right? Stupid guy bullshit. Anyway she starts telling me all about him - how they fell in love, and how they went out for a couple of years, how they lived together, her mother likes me better, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah - and I'm okay. But then she drops the bomb on me, and the bomb is this: it seems that a couple of times, while they were going out, he'd brought some people to bed with them - ménage a trois, I believe it's called. Now this just blows my mind, right? I mean, I am not used to that sort of thing. I was raised Catholic, for God's sakes.

Jay:
Saint Shithead.

[Silent Bob elbows him. Jay raises his fist as if to strike]

Silent Bob:
[to Jay] Do something. [to Holden] So I'm totally weirded out by this right? And I just start blasting her - like I don't know how to deal with what I'm feeling, so I figure the best way is by calling her "slut", and tell her she was used - I mean, I'm out for blood. I really want to hurt this girl. And I'm like "What the f*** is your problem?" and she's just all calmly trying to tell me, like, it was that time, it was that place, and she doesn't think she should apologize because she doesn't feel that she's done anything wrong. And I'm like, "Oh, really?" That's when I look her straight in the eye and tell her it's over. I walk.

Jay:
F***in' A.

Silent Bob:
No, idiot. It was a mistake. I wasn't disgusted with her, I was afraid. At that moment, I felt small - like...like I'd lacked experience, like I'd never be on her level, like I'd never be enough for her or something like that, you know what I'm sayin'? But what I did not get - she didn't care. She wasn't looking for that guy anymore. She was...she was looking for me, for - for the Bob. But, uh, by the time I figured this all out, it was too late, you know. She'd moved on, and all I had to show for it was some foolish pride, which then gave way to regret. She was the girl, I know that now. But I pushed her away. So I've spent every day since then chasing Amy...so to speak.


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