In the past two months, four women have asked my opinion of a relatively obscure 1997 film called “Chasing Amy”. With “Amy” making its premium-channel debut Saturday, August 15, on Starz! I rented a copy and screened it again. It is a picture worthy of comment, and after a second viewing, my answer to those women is: I continue to like it–a lot.

I must warn you up front that “Chasing Amy” is, appropriately, R-rated for its raw, explicit discussions of sexual practices. I wouldn’t let my teenager see it.

“Chasing Amy” is the story of a struggling twentysomething comic-book artist named Holden (Ben Affleck), who, during the course of the film, enters into his first serious relationship with a young woman (Joey Lauren Adams). Her character’s name is Alyssa; the film’s title refers in a generic way to the often tortuous pursuit of love.

The torture for Holden begins after he has really connected with Alyssa, only to learn that she isn’t the sexual innocent he thought she was. Both their courtship and possible breakup are replete with bold, memorable dialogue, written by director Kevin Smith, whose “Clerks” (1994) featured the same type of frank talk. Based on these two films, Smith, along with Quentin Tarantino, is writing some of the liveliest dialogue in movies today. Holden’s monologues of rapture pop off the screen with sincerity. “How seldom it is to meet that one person who gets to you,” he says. “I love you. Feel that longing?” Smith obviously believes that young people don’t necessarily have to talk like juveniles. I was so touched, I rooted for Holden and Alyssa to reconnect after their rift. In most movies, that’s not even an issue, it’s a certainty. But suffice it to say that in this movie, no path is obvious.

So yes, I like “Chasing Amy.” It has brighter dialogue and deeper emotion than you normally see on the screen with characters of this age.