Released: 1st January
Seen: 28th March
There are some things in life that are just undeniably true. The sky is blue, water is wet, Chevy Chase is a massive asshole. These things are facts that one cannot reasonably argue with anyone. That last one is a truth that people have really known for over 50 years, since his first appearance on TV the easy way to describe Chevy has been “Asshole”, for a period of time you might even put the word “Lovable” before “Asshole” but the general consensus has always been that Chevy Chase is an asshole… but what if there was more to him than just being a legendary entertainment asshole? Well, that’s what the documentary I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not hopes to prove… if only its main subject would stop getting in the way.
I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not starts right at the time the first episode of SNL is aired and introduces the world to Chevy before taking us through his career, touching on his early film work that made him an icon, his infamously awful chat show, a couple of his lesser films and even his resurgence through the series community. This is done using talking head interviews with the people who are still willing to talk about Chevy in public (and the film makes note of those who were not willing to do that) and of course an interview with the legend himself who seems to be in a constant battle with the director on how much he’ll open up and finally let us see beyond the harsh exterior.
As a documentary about a beloved figure that actually includes interviews with Chevy and his family, you could imagine a version of this documentary that cleans things up a little and tries its best to present only the positive sides of Chevy’s personality but either Chevy made that impossible or the film makers knew we’d never buy it because, in I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not‘s smartest move, there is no attempt to sand off Chevy’s rough edges. There’s no attempt to make him likable by removing any cruel things he might say, they keep in the part where he flat-out calls the film-maker an idiot who will never work him out, they keep in him doubling down on certain controversies, they detail the entire Community fallout saga in all its horrific detail. This film is not afraid to take Chevy to the mat and let his bad behaviour play out for the audience to see.
Of course, I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not can’t let him just be an unlikable person so the heavy lifting of making him lovable falls to the talking heads who are able to help fill in the gaps, explore why he might behave in a certain way or how some of these things that seem so cruel are meant to be funny but just might not land with most people. It’s this weird push and pull where Chevy seems to be constantly trying to be annoying and everyone else is rushing in to try and clean up and make him seem like a sweetheart… and it works surprisingly well.
It works because you can tell on some level that Chevy can’t help but play up that asshole side of his personality a bit, his interviews are full of moments where he’s just pushing at the boundary to see what he can get away with and pulling back when it’s clear he’s gone too far. It also helps that I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not doesn’t let him back away from the worst parts of his history, confronting him head-on with his actions and holding his feet to the fire. He doesn’t just get to talk about his good times as an icon of 80s cinema but is actually asked the tough questions that one might hope to see him asked but never actually expects.
It’s also just fascinating to see that I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not doesn’t shy away from the fact that there’s a lot of major people who just don’t want to talk about Chevy. While the film talks about Chevy’s infamous fight with Terry Sweeney (brought on by Chevy suggesting that a great bit they could do involved Terry getting AIDS and being weighed… Terry was the first gay cast member at SNL) it points out that Sweeney was asked and didn’t want to attend. It doesn’t even try to explain the lack of people from Community or some of his other big films, their lack of presence alone says so much about the man and the film almost backs them up.
Even with all that, through all the moments that just kind of confirm your suspicion about Chevy there is this rich undercurrent of charm that keeps coming through, enough that you actually get a really good idea about why he was such a huge success story throughout the 80s. You get to see the sides of the man that he’s been careful not to share with the world for so long, parts that let us fully understand the man in ways that we probably would’ve never been able to without this film.
I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not has a scene early on where Chevy proclaims that the film-maker isn’t smart enough to understand him… and yet, based on what her film shows, no one has ever understood the man better. This is a gloriously presented documentary that gives tremendous insight into a living legend. Is Chevy Chase an asshole? Yes, absolutely, but this film makes it clear he is so much more than just that.
Movie Meister Reviews 