200 CIGARETTES by DeWyNGaLe Rating: D+
200 Cigarettes takes place on New Year's Eve 1981. Monica, played by Martha Plimpton is having a huge New Year's party. Everyone in town is trying to get there, but some are caught up in other things. This is the basic plot of 200 Cigarettes. As we meet the characters headed towards the party, we are sent into many subplots which are unoriginal, and not interesting at all. This disappointed me greatly. The film should have been more about the party than the people trying to get there in my opinion.
Lucy, played by Courtney Love, is with Kevin, played by Paul Rudd. The two are in a relationship that is more of a friendship, but starts to blossom into something more than that. This subplot is extremely boring and dull, and I am getting quite sick of plots like that. Janeane Garofalo is involved in another subplot, dealing with Kevin. She plays Ellie, an ex-girlfriend of Kevin's. This subplot is completely a waste of Garofalo's talent. There was no point to it at all, and it was hardly even in the movie. When Lucy runs into a bartender, played by Ben Affleck, another subplot is formed. The bartender is invited by Lucy to come to Monica's party. At the bar, he runs into two more girls. The girls are played by Angela Featherstone and Nicole Parker, but unfortunately, due to the terrible acting of both of them, I don't even remember their characters names. Ben Affleck is a good actor, but his character doesn't go anywhere so he doesn't have much screen time to give a good performance. Featherstone and Parker are horrible in their roles, and they are part of the reason the film is so bad.
Christina Ricci plays Val, and Gaby Hoffman plays Stephie. The two girls are trying to get to the party but are extremely lost. They meet some guys and end up going around with them all night. This subplot was alright, but it was quite annoying with Stephie's accent. Hoffman did an okay job of acting, but Ricci did good. She was underused, considering she is such a wonderful actress.
Another subplot in the film is the relationship between Cindy, played by Goldie Hawn's daughter, and Jack, played by Jay Mohr. Jack is an actor who doesn't care about the girls he goes out with, he just likes dates for one night, and the next day he doesn't. Kate Hudson is a huge klutz. She gets herself into very funny situations, that are the funniest parts in the entire movie. They are probably the only funny parts in the entire movie as well. This subplot could have been used more, mainly due to Hudson's performance. Mohr wasn't good, but he wasn't bad. He was just alright, which I didn't find acceptable.
There is not much to say about the performances in the film. None of the characters are developed or shown enough to really tell if the acting is good or not. The only performances that I can judge are Christina Ricci's as always good performance, Kate Hudson's funny role, Courtney Love's mediocre performance, and Paul Rudd's annoying and overused performance. I was hoping for a little more out of Jaw Mohr, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Gaby Hoffman, Dave Chapelle, and especially out of Janeane Garofalo.
The two strongest things in the film were the great soundtrack and the original costumes. Martha Plimpton and Christina Ricci had very different and original outfits which made me feel like I was in the year 1981. The soundtrack is full of 1980's tunes, ranging from "I Want Candy" to "Tainted Love." The songs in the movie also helped create the feel that you were back in the 1980s.
During the film, I often found myself asking the questions, "Is there a reason to this? Is there any moral story? Is there a point? Are any of the events going on in the film necessary? Do I care what Lucy and Kevin are going through?" The movie is extremely boring, and by the time they reached eleven-o-clock, one hour before midnight, I could not wait for the movie to be over. The plot is okay, but the subplots make it terrible. Maybe if the film was about the party, not about the people at the party, it could have been a lot better.
The Bottom Line: Just like a slasher movie, this ‘80s comedy is just one too many.
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