200 Cigarettes Review
by Jason Allen (spirellae AT aol DOT com)May 9th, 1999
200 CIGARETTES
Released 2.26.99
Paramount Pictures
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rated R
200 CIGARETTES, despite its lack of plot creativity and lame dialogue, manages to throw in several genuinely funny and romantic scenes among the giant mess the rest of the film offers.
The flick’s basically nonexistent premise revolves around the night of New Year’s Eve in 1981. Twentysomethings search for love and happiness to ring in the holiday while attempting to make it to a party before midnight. Monica (Martha Plimpton) is throwing the bash for tons of people in her loft in New York’s East Village, but she increasingly loses her sanity as the night ticks away while no one arrives. This setup then follows a huge conglomeration of different stories about the invitees and their mishaps and experiences trying to get there.
Friends Kevin (Paul Rudd) and Lucy (Courtney Love) at times cannot stand each other but at moments see sparks blossoming between them. Then Jack (Jay Mohr) and Cindy (Kate Hudson) are two singles who recently began dating but undergo troubles because of her clumsiness as well as his large ego. Val and Stephie, two teenagers with extremely annoying accents from Long Island, get lost on the way to the celebration. Running into punk rockers Tom (Casey Affleck) and Dave (Guillermo Diaz) initially poses trouble but soon the group unites. The individual partygoers eventually end up at the destination and the separate scenarios converge as 1982 becomes a reality.
If all this sounds rather confusing, the movie still stays fairly easy to understand, but one cannot help wondering how this jumble of unlinked situations came to be a full-length feature. The events almost seem more suitable for a television sitcom and moviegoers regularly will check their watches to see how much time remains during this burden.
Because of the large cast involved and so many unlinked situations to follow, the events almost seem more suitable for a television sitcom than a full-length feature. The action frequently jumps from one couple to the next, and director Risa Bramon Garcia’s shallow script makes for surface relationships that viewers do not emotionally care about.
How could such a talented ensemble cast be completely wasted like this? Ben Affleck, playing a funny small role as a bartender who constantly drops bottles as he mixes drinks, rarely shows up on screen and hardly says a word. Janeane Garofalo briefly shows up as an ex-girlfriend. One standout performance comes from Dave Chapelle, as the afro-wearing cab driver who transports the various characters around town in his disco-themed automobile.
The title stems from the notion that people use cigarettes as a shield to hide behind in public so that they will not have to reveal their true identities. Besides this idea, the protagonists literally smoke throughout the duration of the drama. The enjoyable nostalgic feel projected by the vintage clothing and music brought a few laughs, but couldn’t save the film from suffocating itself.
This romantic comedy falls flat on its face from poor production all the way around. When will Hollywood start producing quality entertainment for teenagers instead of lame fluff that draws a crowd to theaters only to disappoint with low quality acting and immaturity? Redeeming factors include a few amusing scenes mixed in as well as an excellent soundtrack featuring Blondie, Harvey Danger, and The Ramones. Save hard-earned cash and wait to rent this mediocre title on video. C+
Reviewed by Jason Allen
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
