Ah, the 90s - facial hair, casual clothes, docs, smoking, so much smoking, posters, so many posters, dingy bars, CD stores, comic books, sexual identity. But I love this movie, always have, and feel it holds up well, though I recognise for some it's controversial.
It has a trio of very fine lead performers - Ben Affleck is a solid center, the least showy role, but he does heavy lifting and really brings it in the crucial scenes (the declaration of love, the climax confrontation); Jason Lee is stunningly good as the obnoxious, funny friend (he has the best lines but he delivers them all wonderfully); Joey Lauren Adams is genuinely different and captivating as the girl.
Strong support too from Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, reprising their roles; Dwight Ewell as their friend; Ethan Suplee as a hard core comic fan; and Scott Mosier as a contemptuous fan.
Kevin Smith really did bring it together with this one - along with his trademark dialogue and characters, it's the concept and story which really work - the action progresses logically and always has a decent progression. I remember watching this the first time going "don't stuff up don't stuff up" and it never happened: they met, he starts falling for her, discovers she's gay, they become friends, he falls in love, declares himself, she goes with him, he discovers she's actually bi, he freaks out, he proposes a threesome, it all goes pairshaped. It's an extremely well written and structured screenplay which has also been very well directed. I also love the look of the movie - the comic cons, the video of the fish tank in the background at the end, the fight intercut with a hockey game.
So many memorable scenes: the opening credits (love that song); the comic con fight; Hooper X's talk about race and comic books; Alyssa singing (she's not a very good singer but I love the moment); Banky and Alyssa swapping sex stories; Holden and Alyssa fighting at the ice hockey game; Holden's declaration of love; Banky's various rants; the final confrontation; the touching, heart breaking epilogue. It's heartfelt, raw and wonderful.
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