WFG RATING: A

Yeehaw Pictures, Spacestation, and Mamafilm presents a Professional Amateur production. Written and directed by Sav Rodgers. Produced by Sav Rodgers, Alex Schmider, Lela Meadow-Conner, Matthew C. Mills, and Carrie Radigan. Cinematography by Bill Winters and Bradley Garrison. Edited by Sharika Ajaikumar. 

Stars Sav Rodgers, Regina “Riley” Rodgers, Kevin Smith, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Chris Gore, Guinevere Turner, Cyndi Stivers, Trish Bendix, Robert Hawk, Andrew Ahn, and Ted Bugbee. 

An avid fan of a 1997 Kevin Smith film goes on a journey to learn the stories behind the film in this feel-good documentary. 

In 1997, the indie film Chasing Amy, written and directed by Kevin Smith, about a heterosexual man falling for a lesbian, changed the course of Smith’s career. However, it also changed the life of Sav Rodgers, a transgender man who was a fan of Ben Affleck’s films and when he came across the film, it changed his life in a positive manner. After giving a TED talk about how the film changed his life, he decided to begin a journey on the stories behind the film.

The TED talk garnered the attention of Smith, who invited Rodgers to his house and the two would form a bond and friendship. With his fiancee, Rodgers visits various locations where the film was shot. He also gets to know Joey Lauren Adams, the face of the film, and how the film had affected her and her relationship with Smith. Smith and Adams get a little candid about Harvey Weinstein, whose company Miramax released the film and feeling their big regret was getting him involved. 

This is a feel-good in a getting everything off your chest kind of way documentary that’s not just a behind-the-scenes look about the 1997 film that helped solidify Kevin Smith’s career as a filmmaker, after his breakout Clerks and the flopped biggie of Mallrats. This is more than just getting stories from those involved with the film. It’s about a filmmaker’s journey meshing that with how a film changed his life as a person and member of the LGBTQ community. 

Smith admits he was naive during the process of the film, but wholeheartedly is a major ally of the LGBTQ community, even convincing Rodgers to not care what people think when he tells him that he’s a transgender man and hasn’t come out to the public. It was Smith who inspired him to finally do it. After a brief hiatus, we see Smith and Rodgers reunite on Zoom and it gets to where Smith also didn’t recognize him with Rodgers and thanking him for being a friend through this journey. 

We get to see Rodgers’ relationship with his fiance, who like him, was worried about how others felt about coming out to her family. When she finally came out to her father, she was quite surprised by his reaction (spoiler: he’s very supportive). It’s a literal life-changing moment for Rodgers, as he compared his wife to Alyssa Jones in the film and credits his interview with Adams as the moment where his life would change forever. 

Chasing Chasing Amy is a fantastic documentary that’s more than a look behind the scenes of a great 90’s indie film. It’s the story of how it changed a filmmaker’s life forever in a positive light. A must see for fans of Kevin Smith films and those in the LGBTQ community who may feel hindered to come out because this feels very inspirational. 

Now playing in select theaters. Photo of Kevin Smith and Sav Rodgers courtesy of Bill Winters.