The Movie: Kevin Smith's infamous third movie, Chasing Amy, follows Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) as he pursues, and is eventually shot down by the [gay] girl (Alyssa Jones played by Joey Lauren Adams) of his dreams. Following his movie Clerks, which garnered rave reviews and Mallrats, which was less than spectacular (although still my favorite of the four), Chasing Amy goes a different route - focusing on relationships rather than stinky palms and dialogue rather than action.

Chasing Amy is a poignant look into the relationship between Holden and Alyssa and into both of their lifestyles. The dialogue is superb (a follow-up to the great dialogue in Clerks) and Kevin Smith is able to show off Joey Lauren Adam's great acting in this movie that shows both the ups and downs of the typical straight-guy going for the gay-girl relationship.

The Picture: Not really any noticeable defects in the picture. It was shot on super 16 film and thusly can't be as crisp and clear as most modern movies. Nonetheless, I really didn't notice any problems with the picture other than a couple times where the picture is darker than it probably should be and a couple flecks left over from the super 16 to DVD transfer. Unless you're looking hard, you won't notice any problems, and the transfer is probably the best transfer you'll see of the movie.

The Sound: Kevin Smith in his first 3 movies decided not to focus too much on explosions and action, but rather dialogue and the more intricate subtleties. For this reason, Chasing Amy doesn't really have anything to show off the Dolby Digital 5.1, but there's also nothing to detract from it. The sound is good when it should be and I didn't notice any problems with the sound.

The Extras: The extras a good for a Criterion, but I'm sure there could have been more. There's 10 deleted scenes and outtakes, but there were also more mentioned in the commentary that weren't included on the disc. Speaking of the commentary, it includes quite a few people, and although it consists mainly of Kevin and Ben speaking, when everyone gets in the act, it's hard to keep track of who's talking. The commentary, as in all of Kevin Smith's films, gives a lot of insight into the film that you wouldn't get if you didn't listen. For instance, it cost just a little over $200,000 to make the whole film. I always enjoy Kevin Smith's commentaries and this is no exception. He adds so much to the movie, it's always a big plus when he's included. Very few other commentaries offer such insight to the filming and movie-making process.

Also included is an introduction by Kevin Smith where he apologizes for some comments made on the commentary track which was originally recorded for the Criterion Laserdisc. Also, make sure you don't miss the color bars at the end of the extras section.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this is quite an impressive disc. While I'm sure there's more extras out there, I'm sure Criterion packed all they could onto this one disc. The movie alone is well worth the price of the disc, but with a commentary and all the deleted scenes, it makes it even that much better. Priced modestly (for a Criterion disc), this movie is well worth it's price and you'll regret passing this one up.