The ensemble picture is one way for any filmmaker to help guarantee audience interest, especially when the thespians collected are young and hungry for work, accepting roles to help their careers and limit their professional obligation, playing a small part in a larger puzzle of personalities. For 1999's "200 Cigarettes," the professional mission was to support the directorial debut of Rise Bramon Garcia, who made her mark on the industry as a casting director, filling movies such as "True Romance," "Uncle Buck," and "Born on the Fourth of July" with noted talent and future stars, making her popular with actors. "200 Cigarettes" provides ample opportunity for the talent to display some charm, with screenwriter Shana Larsen (this being her one and only credit) providing a tale of mismatched lovers, accidents, and smoking with the endeavor, which imagines the tangled ways of neurotics as they make their way to a New Year's Eve party, ringing in 1982 while stomping around New York City. Garcia wallpapers the feature with soundtrack selections and tries to summon a period feel for the comedy, which maintains a flow of mental health issues, but laughs and heart at a little harder to find. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com