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Review by Susan Granger
1 star out of 4
This MTV-production revolves around frantic, fateful New Year's
Eve party in 1981 in a downtown loft in the funky East Village, where
the lives of various young couples and friends intersect. Anyone who
has ever spent a dismal New Year's Eve with strangers - virtual or
otherwise - can relate to their depressing and desperate angst. Risa
Bramon Garcia, a highly respected casting director, makes her
directorial debut so, predictably, despite the modest $6.5 million
budget, there's a star-studded cast, like Christina Ricci and Gaby
Hoffman as wannabe groupies from suburban Ronkonkoma, Long Island,
lighting up with Paul Rudd and Courtney Love, two platonic friends who
agree, if all else fails, to have sex with each other. Jay Mohr, Casey
Affleck, and Brian McCardie cruise the crowd as Ben Affleck plays
bartender. Goldie Hawn's daughter, giggly Kate Hudson, makes her
feature film debut as an awkward Upper West Side princess, prone to
pratfalls, but, nevertheless, holding her own with Martha Plimpton, as
the sad-sack hostess, Dave Chappelle as a slick disco taxi-driver, and
Janeane Garofalo in a cameo. Ms. Garcia describes the filming as "a
revolving door of actors, coming in and doing their bit and leaving" -
and it looks it. Despite the fact that an appropriate early '80s song
underlines each scene, there's not much to Shana Larsen's unstructured
script and dreadful dialogue, particularly when you realize that AIDS
will bring this kind of promiscuity to an end very soon. So, as a
result, all these actors have very little substance to puff on. Or, as
Paul Rudd concludes, "We use cigarettes as a shield against relating
to each other." On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "200
Cigarettes" is a vapid, clumsy 3, making you long for the morning
after to come quickly.
Copyright © 1999 Susan Granger
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