Joey Lauren Adams

In Dazed and Confused (1993), Joey Lauren Adams’s Simone belongs in Richard Linklater’s teenage crowd without seeming to demand a film of her own. Her grounded acting suits the wandering attention of a last-day-of-school comedy, where the pleasure comes from spending time with the ensemble. We warmed to these teenagers because the performances make their company enjoyable without concealing their capacity for cruelty. Adams helps that approach work, though the film’s appeal cannot sensibly be credited to any one supporting player. Its wandering occasionally wears thin; the ease with which these people share the screen is a good reason to stay.

Her high-pitched, squeaky voice is more immediately distinctive than that quiet usefulness in a group. It deserves notice, but it can distract from the question of how convincingly she plays a person. Kevin Smith’s Mallrats (1995) was followed by Chasing Amy (1997), which gave her the lead role of Alyssa Jones. Here, the emotional depth and persuasiveness of her performance give us considerably more to value than an unusual sound. Smith is the key collaborator for anyone looking beyond her supporting work.

The move into studio comedies brought supporting parts in Big Daddy (1999) and The Break-Up (2006). That fits a recurring frustration in her work: too many opportunities to play the girlfriend, too few to carry the film herself. We value her ability to fit into a comedy without making each appearance an audition for a larger part, but repeated casting of that kind gives an actor little room to surprise us.

She also wrote and directed Come Early Morning (2006), a change of job worth noting without treating it as a verdict on her acting. We would welcome another lead that asks as much of her as Alyssa did. Begin with Dazed and Confused, then try Chasing Amy for a fuller sense of what she can do.