This Week's Selection: "200 CIGARETTES"
It's 11:59 on New Year's Eve. Do you know where your date is?
This is one of my favorite bizarre, romantic movies. 200 Cigarettes is a perfect tribute to the 1980's. Looking back, it's hard to believe we dressed like that and went out in public! No one paid much attention to this film when it was first released, however it seems to have developed legs and quite a following with its monthly appearances on subscription movie channels. It's one of those films you can't help but watch when it comes on (at least I hope I'm not the only person that's addicted to watching this movie).
The movie takes place in the hours leading up to midnight on New Year's Eve, 1981. Monica (Martha Plimpton) has set up for a New Year's Eve bash, complete with food, decorations, and lots of alcohol - but it's almost midnight and the only person who's shown up is her ex-boyfriend/painter, Eric (Brian McCardie). He's sexually frustrated and apparently sexually inadequate (his need to know what's wrong with his sexual prowess is his only topic of conversation for the whole film). Monica - thinking her party is a total failure and that she has no friends - whines, pouts, gets frustrated and angry, and finally drinks herself into a stupor, passing out before the guests arrive. Meanwhile, her invited party guests are scrounging up dates or are lost and wandering around the city. The eclectic mix of partiers include Bridget (Nicole Parker) and Caitlyn (Angela Featherstone), two single, dateless women who believe that being single on New Year's Eve is a fate worse than death; Ben Affleck (the bartender - his character never gets a real name) who manages to get picked up on and dumped several times throughout the evening before turning up at the party; Kevin (Paul Rudd) and his girlfriend, Ellie (Janeane Garofalo) who end a long-term relationship only to end up together at the party before the night's over; Lucy (Courtney Love), Kevin's best friend, who provides a shoulder for Kevin to cry on (and who'd like to provide a whole lot more than a wet shoulder); Monica's cousin, Val (Christina Ricci), and her friend Stephanie (Gaby Hoffman) who lose the address, end up in a scary part of town, and meet up with two guys who need to deliver a package before escorting them out of the area; Tom (Casey Affleck), one of the two guys Val and Stephie meet up with (the other, Dave, passes out and is left on a couch in an alley); and Jack (Jay Mohr) the jerk who's on his second date with Cindy (Kate Hudson), only because his first date with her ended with her losing her virginity. Cindy is a trip - everything that can go wrong on a date happens to Cindy in a matter of hours. Kate Hudson is perfect in the role of sweet, innocent, klutzy, yet endearing, Cindy. There's also a cab driver (Dave Chappelle) who gives rides to various partygoers throughout the evening and who eventually winds up at the party, and narrates a recap of the party happenings for the audience. Monica, the party's host, sleeps through the entire event, even missing out on a surprise appearance by none other than Elvis Costello himself.
At first glance, the cast list for this movie looks crazy. But, it all works and the end result is a humorous, entertaining film.
Rated R for strong language and sexual content.
Directed by: Risa Bramon Garcia
Produced by: Alan Greenspan, Mike Newell, Tom Rosenberg, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Ted Tannenbaum, and Richard Wright
Screenplay by: Shana Larsen
Cinematographer: Frank Prinzi
Film Editing by: Lisa Zeno Churgin and Evelyn Purwins
Production Designer: Ina Mayhew
Casting: Deborah Aquila and Sarah Halley Finn
Art Direction: Judy Rhee
Costume Designer: Susan Lyall
Bartender - Ben Affleck
Tom - Casey Affleck
Disco Cabbie - David Chappelle
Dave - Guillermo Diaz
Caitlyn - Angela Featherstone
Ellie - Janeane Garofalo
Stephie - Gaby Hoffman
Cindy - Kate Hudson
Hillary - Catherine Kellner
Lucy - Courtney Love
Eric - Brian McCardie
Jack - Jay Mohr
Bridget - Nicole Parker
Monica - Martha Plimpton
Val - Christina Ricci
Kevin - Paul Rudd
Elvis Costello - Himself
