Thursday, 4/10/97
Third time’s the charm
Director Kevin Smith reminisces about the success of his debut
‘Clerks,’ shrives the sins he committed with ‘Mallrats’ and shows
the lessons he’s learned with his upcoming ‘Chasing Amy.’
By Aimee Phan
Daily Bruin Contributor
If a filmmaker’s first movie becomes a critical and commercial
hit, the success can be both a blessing and a curse. Breaking into
the business with a hit is the blessing, making a second film that
can live up to the first is the curse. Most directors can’t handle
the expectations and crack under the pressure, often delivering a
disappointing second film. It’s the typical sophomore jinx.
And director Kevin Smith is a typical victim of this jinx. After
making a smash debut with his witty indie "Clerks," he followed up
his surprise success with the critical and commercial dud,
"Mallrats." Fortunately, his third film, "Chasing Amy," has Smith
feeling optimistic.
Smith believes that the chilly reception of "Mallrats" was
inevitable due to the overwhelming success of "Clerks" and he
claims it was nearly impossible to live up to the first film’s
hype.
"With our first flick they called us geniuses," Smith remembers.
"There were great, fantastic reviews, so when you get that kind of
praise, if anything didn’t live up to it, immediately you’re going
to let them down. ‘Clerks’ clicked with a lot of people because it
was kind of personal and had things that everyone could identify
with. ‘Mallrats’ didn’t really have an identity factor to it."
While Smith wasn’t bothered by the commercial failure of
"Mallrats," he does admit that the critical response affected him
deeply.
"Because it was the second film, we were prepared for bad
reviews," Smith recalls. "But as prepared as one is, you’re never
that fuckin’ prepared for the trouncing. We took a tremendous
trouncing for that movie, and perhaps unfairly, I thought. Just
like I thought the praise on ‘Clerks’ was overhyped. Those reviews
hurt because I’m one of these cats that can’t ignore the press. I
believe everything they say, so it can get really under your
skin."
Luckily, the reviews for his newest film, "Chasing Amy" are much
better. "Chasing Amy" debuted at the Sundance Film Festival where
it was received with a standing ovation. The story revolves around
the young cult comic book creator Holden McNeil (played by Ben
Affleck) who falls in love with a fellow comic book artist named
Allysa Jones (played by Joey Lauren Adams). The only catch? She’s a
lesbian with a very colorful sexual past. The film follows their
unusual courtship.
"Chasing Amy" marks the breaking of new territory for Smith,
since it deals with more dramatic issues than his two previous
comedies did. Most of the film focuses on Holden’s struggle to
accept Allysa’s past sexual relationships, a problem that Smith
believes many men from small towns have to confront.
"When you meet cats who grew up in the major cities, you never
hear them having problems with (sexual pasts). I think people tend
to be more liberal in the major cities. But with small-town
America, it’s not like that. You’re dealing in areas where everyone
knows each other so the big hang-up with people’s sexual pasts
comes from the fact that at any given moment, you could probably
walk down a street and run into somebody that has been with your
current partner. I think every male deals with that to a certain
degree. Every heterosexual male. You want to go to bed with a whore
and wake up with a virgin."
Smith believes that Holden’s character represents many people in
the politically correct ’90s who are liberal in their minds, but
conservative in their hearts.
"This is a movie about a guy who fancies himself liberal, the
’90s liberal male, the guy who’s okay with everything and has no
issues with anything," Smith says. "He’s not like his parents, he’s
the guy who has a gay friend and when he’s dating a lesbian, he’s
okay with her past. It only comes to her heterosexual past, where
he should be on an even plane with her, that he has to face his own
conservatism. He fancies himself liberal, but turns out to be
ultraconservative. I think a lot of us paint ourselves as liberals
nowadays, but deep down, you just can’t escape what you were raised
with."
Smith wanted the movie to strike a realistic chord with its
audience by tackling prevalent issues in the ’90s. He also made the
film more realistic by using people from his past films and in his
real life to play the major roles in "Chasing Amy." Adams, who has
been Smith’s real-life girlfriend for almost two years, appreciates
the fact that Smith’s set is filled with people she has worked with
before.
"I love working with Kevin and it’s always nice to work with the
same people," Adams says. "It’s a secure, comfortable and
respectable set."
Adams’ co-star, Affleck, whose part Holden was written with him
especially in mind, also enjoyed the familiar, cozy atmosphere.
"Working with Kevin is a lot of fun," Affleck says. "It was an
easygoing set since we just hung out and laughed. It’s not like a
job, it’s more like working with a friend for two months."
Smith will continue his tradition of working with his familiar
circle of friends on his next project, "Dogma," a film which will
satire the institution of organized religion. Still in the
pre-production stages, the movie will star Lee and Affleck as the
Angel of Death and his decre-er who are banished to Wisconsin after
a tiff with God.
While the film does focus on the institution of Catholicism,
Smith insists "Dogma" is not an anti-religion movie. Having been
raised as a Catholic, Smith hopes to use this film to explore
issues of personal faith versus the conventions of formal
religion.
"(The film) takes a close look at the idea behind organized
religion in general," Smith says. "I happened to choose the
Catholic Church because I know a lot about it. It’s not a thumbing
my nose or saying ‘Fuck you’ (to the Church). It’s very reverent
and deals with the issues of organized religion versus faith and
spirituality and how sometimes you invest yourself in a belief
system of a dogma of an organized religion and you tend to forget
why you’re there."
With this promising project taking up his time and his other job
as screenwriter for the upcoming big-budget Warner Brothers film
"Superman Lives," Smith is relieved he has gotten past the
sophomore jinx to continue his career as a filmmaker. He believes
that his "Mallrats" experience was a painful, but necessary rite of
passage that every filmmaker must endure.
"I can’t tell you how liberating it is that ‘Mallrats’ tanked,"
Smith admits. "Because approaching ‘Chasing Amy’ was so freeing.
Because what bad could they possibly say about this movie that they
didn’t say on ‘Mallrats?’ How much worse can you get? When you’ve
hit rock bottom, there’s really nowhere to go but up. And it’s nice
to get that out of the way early."
FILM: "Chasing Amy" will be released this Friday, April
11th.(Above) Director Kevin Smith, (l.), directs Ben Affleck (r.)
on the set of Smith’s third movie titled "Chasing Amy."
(Right) Joey Lauren Adams (l.) and Dwight Ewell (r.) star in
Kevin Smith’s "Chasing Amy," which made its debute at the Sundance
Film Festival and has already received good reviews by critics and
audiences.
Miramax Films
Chasing Amy — Miramax
Production Company
Kevin Smith Worship Page