"An Askew View 2: The Films of Kevin Smith" by John Kenneth Muir

Chasing Amy is one of my all-time favorite films and it just may be writer/director Kevin Smith's best effort to date. All of Smith's films, from Clerks to Red State, are highlighted in the updated book An Askew View 2: The Films of Kevin Smith (Applause Books) by John Kenneth Muir. Information about Kevin Smith's early life and various other projects serve as bookends to the Smith film library and enable readers to have a more thorough understanding of Smith and his contributions to various aspects of popular culture.

While I was familiar with Clerks when it was released, I did not see the movie until many years later. The first Kevin Smith effort I recall watching is Chasing Amy, starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams and Jason Lee. Smith's intuitive and honest screenplay portrayed a realistic view of love and relationships that spoke to Smith's generation, myself included, and attempted to break down needless barriers between same sex and opposite sex relationships. The issue of sexuality is examined in a straightforward way and asks important questions about the need for some people to stay within boundaries because of pressure from a repressed society or from individuals who cannot seem to accept their feelings and desires.

Another one of Smith's finest films, Dogma, always makes me laugh when I think of a line spoken by Jason Mewes, as Jay, towards the end of the film when the Golgothan (a shit monster) is approaching. The line is consistent with what Smith refers to as "dick and fart jokes," but it was not the line so much as the way Mewes delivers it that makes me laugh...repeatedly...for more than a decade now. Of course, casting Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in leading roles certainly added to my enjoyment of the film, but it was Smith's take on the often absurd nature of organized religion that I completely agreed with. In fact, I have had issues with organized religion most of my life and appreciated that someone else apparently felt the same way I did and had the power to voice those opinions to millions of viewers.

Perhaps Smith's films speak to me because we are of a similar age and appear to share the same liberal sensibilities. But I think it goes beyond that. His films stay with me in some way because they are well written efforts that consistently speak to the human condition like no other contemporary filmmaker. In addition, part of Smith's success with his View Askew productions can be attributed to the continuity of the people behind the scenes and by casting talented actors in roles that, for some reason, do not always garner that acclaim that they are due. In any event, there is a certain magic to Smith's filmmaking that appears to be intangible and may never be duplicated.

John Kenneth Muir provides many keen insights into the films of Kevin Smith and devotes a chapter to each film. Information about the cast and crew, a brief synopsis and the backstory of each production make for fascinating reading. To the author's credit, he delivers an even handed account of Smith's highs and lows and the controversy that the writer/director has been involved with over the years. For instance, the religious furor surrounding Dogma, a joke that upset a well known gay organization and his well publicized encounter with an airline who insisted that he purchase two seats because of his weight/size. Of course, it will be Smith's filmmaking efforts that will be his legacy and the quality of his library speaks louder than any short lived controversy.