New Year's Eve Madness
200 Cigarettes Burns Brightly for One Night

It appears that all of Hollywood has become nostalgic about making period pieces. With the success of films set in Elizabethan England and WWII, no one appears to care about the late 20th century anymore. Well, the makers of 200 Cigarettes are getting romantic about the Eighties. But are they getting it right?

The story is told from the points of view of several people who are on their way to a New Year's Eve party thrown by Monica (Martha Plimpton). She is stressed out by the ordeal, fearing that no one will come or - if they do - that they will hate it. As the night wears on, she becomes increasingly more frantic waiting for someone to arrive. The question, of course, is where are they?

If there are any lead characters in this ensemble cast, it would have to be Kevin (Paul Rudd) and Lucy (rock singer Courtney Love). Kevin is going through a crisis of his own, having recently been dumped by his girlfriend Ellie (Janeane Garofalo). To make the night worse, it is Kevin's birthday, and like every other New Year's Eve, he is filled with thoughts of self-pity. Meanwhile, Lucy tries to convince him that he needs to let go of his problems and have fun. Her solution? She dares him to have sex with her.

While no story told in 200 Cigarettes could stand by itself, as a whole the threads are enjoyable. As the movie moves forward and the audience is introduced to the characters, one sees that all these lives interconnect in several ways. Ben Affleck, for instance, plays a bartender at a bar where several of the characters show up at one time or another. By the time the movie is in full swing, the audience is watching carefully to see who will end up with whom as the storylines of the characters begin to converge.

Included in the ensemble cast are some excellent performances. Most notable is Rudd, whose performance is angst-ridden yet comedic. Kevin becomes one of the only characters we root for, because he is more than a cardboard caricature. Dave Chappelle plays a cabbie who is apparently stuck in the '70s (with an 8-track player in his cab, and a disco ball hanging from the ceiling). Through much of the movie, he is dispensing his "wisdom" to the players who have ended up in his cab. Chappelle is wonderful comic relief, and his ending narration of the film is hilarious.

Former child stars Gaby Hoffman and Christina Ricci appear as two teenagers from Long Island who are lost in the city while looking for Monica's party. The two are so shocking in their foul language and slutty costumes that it is difficult to recognize them. Sadly, it blows the cute image Hoffman had in her younger years.

Making her debut is Kate Hudson (daughter of actress Goldie Hawn). Hudson is her mother in every way, and seeing her on the screen is like stepping back in time to see Goldie in her prime.

For all its flashy costumes and great music, 200 Cigarettes could have been set in 1990s. The setting is irrelevant to the story and serves only as a backdrop. Replace the punk bands with grunge bands, throw out the '80s attire for something more current, and nothing is lost. In fact, there are so many inconsistencies in this film that they distract from the story. Two nice features of the time period were the appearances by singers Elvis Costello and Buster Poindexter.

MY RATING: 6 out of 10.

RATED:
RUN TIME: 101 min.

New Year's Eve Madness 200 Cigarettes Burns Brightly for One Night

New Year's Eve Madness
200 Cigarettes Burns Brightly for One Night