Kevin Smith Double Feature – Film Review Fridays

Chasing Amy – review by Emma Cranby

Frankly, the fact that this is only the second Kevin Smith film I’ve reviewed – unless you count Drawing Flies, which he produced – is beyond me. For a decent portion of 2024, his films were just about the only thing I watched, and although I can’t say the same is true of 2025, it remains the case that Chasing Amy might be one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

The story is this: best friends Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are co-creators of Bluntman and Chronic, a hit comic book based on the misadventures of their friends and Smith staple characters Jay and Silent Bob. While the pair are promoting the comic at a convention, Holden meets writer Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), and the pair quickly become friends. This irritates Banky, who is uncomfortable with Alyssa’s lesbianism, and claims Holden’s closeness with her is affecting his dedication to Bluntman and Chronic. When Holden and Alyssa begin a romantic relationship, Banky’s resentment worsens, and he attempts to break up their relationship.

Needless to say, the dynamics become tense, relationships fracture, and at best the film's ending could be called bittersweet; it’s certainly not happy by any significant means. Yet, I wouldn’t call this a bad thing. Although Kevin Smith’s movies have gained a significant cult following over the years, they’re far from being formulaic Hollywood offerings; even more recent films like Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and Clerks III are offbeat, with distinctive humour and stories that defy expectations at every turn.

Indeed, Chasing Amy could have been far less than it is. At worst, the film might have been a simple love story that ends with Alyssa and Holden living happily ever after, all past struggles forgotten. In Kevin Smith’s hands, though, the movie is touching and resonant, and holds its own as a drama, romance AND comedy film. The cast is a delightfully eclectic mix of Smith staple actors, including Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams (in the role that brought her a Golden Globe nomination) and of course the ever-iconic Jay and Silent Bob, played by, respectively, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith himself.

Among this star-studded cast, my favourite has to be Jason Lee, who as Banky Edwards is obnoxious, crude, ignorant and hostile, but also among the most enjoyable characters to watch that I’ve yet encountered. Lee simply plays the insufferable Banky so well that one can’t help but spend hours the next week noticing things and laughing to think how Banky would react to them and the world today (or at least, you know, texting one’s sister innumerable grainy screenshots from Chasing Amy captioned ‘Jason Lee is so babygirl’...).

Another show-stopping but underrated performance is that of Dwight Ewell as Hooper X, a flamboyantly gay artist who masquerades as a ferocious and militant activist in order to sell more comics. Similarly, Joey Lauren Adams is captivating as Alyssa, and it's easy to understand why the role earned her a slew of award nominations – the best way I can describe Adams in the film is electric. Her performance is the film's standout, and Adams more than holds her own against her male co-stars. As Alyssa, she's bright and thrilling, and one can't help being drawn in by the character. Unfortunately, the same isn't true of Ben Affleck's Holden McNeil, who strikes me as staid and somewhat pathetic in comparison to the rest of the film’s aggressively unique characters. However, it's also true that Affleck’s acting is natural and charismatic, and Holden's simplicity feels necessary.

In any case, the film is outstanding. It’s stunningly quotable, and as uproariously funny as it is heart-rending. Although it’s less than stellar in some of its representations of queer characters and themes, the overall balance that Chasing Amy offers between serious emotional discussion and blunt and offensive humour and character interactions is unexpectedly wonderful. It won’t be a stretch to say that you’re unlikely to have seen anything quite like Chasing Amy – and it certainly isn’t hard to say you won’t regret it.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno – review by Mason Horsley

Kevin Smith is not a director I'd recommend to just anyone. I feel that in order to watch a Kevin Smith film, you'd first have to forget all sensibilities for comedy. You’d have to be okay with discussion about sex acts in detail, hearing the N-word more than a few times and watching some pretty damn debaucherous acts. However, if you're not only okay with that but also find it gut-bustingly hilarious, congratulations! Kevin Smith is the director for you! Allow me to introduce you to, what I believe is his greatest film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Zack And Miri follows two childhood friends and roommates who struggle to make ends meet, always coming up short of rent money and both stuck in dead-end jobs. After coming home one night and finding the utilities in their apartment have been shut off, they're forced to find a way to make quick cash. Zack becomes inspired after talking to a gay pornstar at a high school reunion and pitches Miri on making their own porno: ‘Star Whores’. The pair begin pre-production, hiring actors, constructing crude costumes and hiring out production space. There's just one hitch in the plan: both are clearly unsettled at the idea of having sex with each other on film. Can the porno stay strictly business, or can love blossom on the set of a skin flick?

While the film stands out all on its own, it also feels almost like an alternate version of Clerks, Smith's directorial debut about a day in the life of a retail worker. Both films focus on everyman characters who struggle not only to find a place in society but also struggle against their own inadequacies and poor decision-making. It's an incredibly human quality that Smith has made part of his oeuvre and is a major reason to experience his filmography. The similarity that stands out most to me, though, is that both films are set against the backdrop of retail stores, which lends the film a satisfying “rage against the system” energy that I'm sure a lot of us can relate to.

Zack is played by Seth Rogen, who clearly relishes and has far too much fun with the script. The fact that this isn't a more frequently mentioned film of his is mind-boggling to me. He completely embodies that one friend you have that has no mental filter, spouting whatever comes to mind no matter how vulgar – the perfect character for a Kevin Smith film. I would say Rogen’s best scene would be at the highschool reunion where, within a matter of minutes, he solicits sex from 2 women, tells an old friend to fuck off and meets a gay porn star. By the time the sequence is over, you will understand completely what kind of movie you're in for.

Elizabeth Banks plays Miri, a great straight-man character to Zack. Miri is more mature and slightly less impulsive than her roommate, but also has a little self-consciousness thrown in. Her best scene is, no doubt, when she gets drunk at her highschool reunion and tries to seduce her old bully Bobby Long (Brandon Routh), who turns out to be gay. I'd love to see Banks eventually turn back to comedy since this is clearly her best performance in the genre.

View Askweniverse (Smith’s cinematic universe) regulars Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson make appearances. Mewes plays Lester who might as well be Jay (Mewes’s first and most famous role), but as an aspiring pornstar. Anderson plays Deacon, the frustrated cameraman who ends up suffering from an unfortunate accident mid-shoot.

A surprising casting choice made by Smith was including two actual pornstars, Katie Morgan and Traci Lords who both blend in so seamlessly, you'd easily presume them to be professional comic actresses. Katie Morgan plays Stacey, the lead actress who has a crush on Zack, while Traci Lords plays Bubbles (named for a skill I'm unable to describe here), another actress who begins a relationship with Barry, a clearly innocent theatre actor.

I'd be a fool not to mention Justin Long’s cameo as the gay porn star who inspires the plot in the first place, Brandon St Randy. Long is only featured in 3 scenes, but don't worry, he will have you in stitches in each of them. One scene in particular features Brandon in a lover's quarrel with Bobby over how Brandon expresses his love for him in public. “This is exactly why you haven't met my mother! Because you don't know how to ease yourself into the situation, you just force your way in!” “I thought for just one second in this godforsaken town, I could be myself. I'm so sorry, no, you're right, I should just butch up and pretend I don't love it when you shove your dick in my mouth!”

So if you're on the lookout for a new comedy, you can't find better than Zack And Miri. It's an incredibly underrated work by all involved, and when you watch this, I promise you'll be gobsmacked why it ever bombed in the box office. To this day, it remains a dependable rewatch, something I can guarantee to lift my spirits and make me cackle. Just make sure no kids are there watching with you.