Christina Ricci and Courtney Love. Dave Chappelle. Janeane Garofalo. Not one, but both of the brothers Affleck. How could an MTV-produced movie with such a pedigreed cast of Gen-Xers be doomed to terminal obscurity? While 200 Cigarettes' box office fate may be one of the great mysteries of our time, this endearingly quirky American-Graffiti-meets-The-Breakfast-Club comedy that counts down the minutes to midnight on New Year's Eve, 1981, would perhaps be best remembered for its killer soundtrack. From eighties staples like Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" to lesser known but twice as golden ditties like B-Movie's "Nowhere Girl" and Joe Jackson's "It's Different for Girls," 200 is a reminder that the eighties were much more than a vast wasteland of Bananarama wannabes. Elvis Costello, Blondie, The Cars, and The Ramones all make welcome appearances, and the double team of Dire Strait's heart-plucker "Romeo and Juliet" and Roxy Music's equally schmaltzy "More Than This" is enough to make the most hardened eighties connoisseur mist up. Add to all this goodness a simply ripping cover of the English Beat's "Save It for Later" by Harvey Danger (who knew?), and I see no reason why any self-respecting child of the eighties wouldn't rush out to buy the soundtrack to 200 Cigarettes right this very moment.
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