200 Cigarettes
Short description
200 Cigarettes takes place in Manhattan on New Year's Eve in 1981, following a loosely connected group of people in their twenties as they drift through the night. A party is planned in a loft, but the guests keep delaying their arrival, wandering the city instead. Among them are friends, singles and couples navigating relationships, loneliness and desire, and by the time the evening reaches midnight, several of them end up somewhere other than where they expected.
The film was directed by Risa Bramon Garcia, with a screenplay by Shana Larsen, and it was produced by David Gale, Betsy Beers and Van Toffler. Its large ensemble includes Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Díaz, Angela Featherstone and Janeane Garofalo, among a credited cast of forty-two. Made for about 6 million dollars, it uses the crowded, restless night as its structure rather than a single central character.
Released on February 26, 1999, the film earned roughly 7 million dollars worldwide, a modest return against its budget. Ratings place it at 6 out of 10 on IMDb from around 17,000 votes, and at 5.8 out of 10 on TMDB from about 184 votes. A critics' rating of 4.9 out of 10 from 64 reviews puts it below the audience scores on IMDb and TMDB.
What's left behind the scenes
- Although the film is set on the eve of 1981, the creators failed to avoid a number of blatant "temporal" inaccuracies. For example, cars released after 1981 appear in the film, or characters drink a variety of Miller beer that appeared somewhat later.
- There were also verbal gaffes – two girlfriends call the student bartender (played by Ben Affleck) a supposedly fashionable word "yuppie", although this word first appeared only in March 1983, with the release of "The Yuppie Handbook", and even then it had not yet entered widespread usage.
- The directorial debut of Risa Bramon Garcia, a well-known casting director in Hollywood. Garcia selected actors for such hits as "JFK" (1991), "Speed" (1994), "Twister" (1996), "Sweet November" (2001), and others.
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