The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Chasing Amy
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1997
Holden and Banky are comic book artists. Everything is going good for them until they meet Alyssa, also a comic book artist. Holden falls for her, but his hopes are crushed when he finds out she's a lesbian.
Movie details
Chasing Amy
“It's not who you love. It's how.”
1997 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 54m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.2 / 10
147.8K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
86 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
71 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Holden and Banky are comic book artists. Everything is going good for them until they meet Alyssa, also a comic book artist. Holden falls for her, but his hopes are crushed when he finds out she's a lesbian.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Chasing Amy?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Manhattan
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Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
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Friends with Kids
Comedy · 2012
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Kevin Smith
Written by
Kevin Smith
Ben Affleck
Holden McNeil
Joey Lauren Adams
Alyssa Jones
Jason Lee
Banky Edwards
King Mustafa Obafemi
Hooper LaMont
Jason Mewes
Jay
Kevin Smith
Silent Bob
Ethan Suplee
Fan
Court is in session
Put Chasing Amy on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.