200 Cigarettes

Starring: Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Janeane Garofalo, Gabby Hoffmann, Kate Hudson, Catherine Kellner, Courtney Love, Jay Mohr, Nicole Ari Parker, Martha Plimpton, Christina Ricci, Paul Rudd
Directed by: Risa Bramon Garcia
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama
1999

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: On New Years Eve, a group of young adults deal with relationship issues and life as they move into adulthood.

Review:

Tim: 200 Cigarettes boasts an absolutely unbelievable cast, given a mediocre script to work with. Risa Bramon Garcia's film is noteworthy purely as a curiosity- how the heck did they manage to cast so many terrific young actors here? That's the appeal, that's the reason to watch it. The movie itself is utterly forgettable, yet another 90's party film that never really hits the upper gears. I'd never watched this movie during its release, so I was mostly struck looking back at how many talented performers are assembled in this one movie.

The basic structure of the story will feel intimately familiar, even if the specific details are a bit changed. We follow a large cast of characters as they move through New York City on New Years Eve. Just a side note- I was struck by how little the place felt important here. NYC is such a vivid city, it often takes on the qualities of a character itself in better movies. It feels like this film completely misses that- this could have taken place in any city, anywhere. One of many missed opportunities. So, we follow a large group of characters as they move from party to party, or restaurant to party, or bar to bar- none of it really matters, it's just a large group of younger people moving about different social scenes. They talk, they interact, we get to know a bit about who they are and what their most pressing desires are. It typically involves romantic relationships in one way or another- breakups, hookups, these characters are all focused on relationships. None of it is truly interesting, but it's always mildly entertaining. There's a lot of messiness in this film- as you might expect about a group of twenty-somethings, they haven't figured life out yet. They are still navigating romantic relationships and it's that struggle that shows up front-and-center here. There's nothing wrong with any of this- it's just all presented in very average fashion.

I know placing blame is always an iffy proposition with movies, but I think it's clear that Risa Bramon Garcia is really the main person at fault here. This was Garcia's feature film directorial debut and while it's not bad, it's wholly uninspiring. Garcia would only direct 1 other feature and it looks far worse than this one. I don't think the script was spectacular, but there doesn't feel like an immense amount of talent behind the camera. Inexperience obviously plays a role, but Garcia has a tremendous cast and yet the movie is mostly underwhelming. That's a bummer and it's a big reason why this movie is forgettable and that it's taken me so many years to finally see.

The cast is absolutely where the film shines, though. Ben Affleck plays a charismatic bartender who has more underneath his exterior than you might first expect. He seems to be more important to the overall story than he actually is. Affleck's not bad, but this isn't a great role. It was cool to see his younger brother Casey here- but Casey has even less to do. He has a few nice moments, but again, most unremarkable. Dave Chappelle gets to deliver a few memorable lines, but not a whole lot else. Janeane Garofalo feels like an afterthought, but her introductory scene is surprising and one of the more memorable of the film. Kate Hudson gets to lean into comedy hard here- she's one of the silliest and funniest parts of this film. I think her antics were the only thing that actually made me laugh out loud. Hudson gets comedic bona fides for delivering a really good performance here. She's paired mostly with Jay Mohr, who plays the straight man. Mohr gives a good performance, and one of the highlights of this film is seeing these two interact. I don't think Courtney Love is a good actress, but she was solid here. She interacts mostly with Paul Rudd, who is one of the best parts of the film. Rudd leverages his comedic talents and quirks of depression in a really funny role. Rudd is usually such a bright presence, it was great fun to see his acerbic wit in a darker role. His line delivery and comedic timing is impressive. It was fun to see Nicole Ari Parker here- I saw her early performance in The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, but rarely ever saw her again. Unfortunately, her story is perhaps the weakest of the entire film. The movie kind of grinds to a halt whenever her and her friend show up. Disappointing, for sure. I did at times enjoy the banter between Christina Ricci and Gabby Hoffmann, but their accents were grating and eventually, their story wore out its welcome. It's one of the more memorable aspects, but it absolutely becomes tiresome. Martha Plimpton is one of the better parts of the film- we spend a little too much time with her, but her anxiety about her New Years Eve party, and how it all turns out is definitely one of the standout sequences in this film. As you might expect, with a cast this size, you get mixed results. Still, this is the chief reason to see the film and I genuinely had fun seeing all these actors giving their various performances.

As a whole, though, 200 Cigarettes leaves a lot to be desired. There were quite a few of these kinds of movies in the 1990s and many of them are far better than this one. I never hated this movie or grew too frustrated with it- it's never bad. It's just hopelessly mediocre. The great cast provides a bit of a lift, but it can't save an average script and pretty bad direction.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Can't Hardly Wait, The Opposite of Sex, Clueless