AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh, coming of age, that wonderful tried and true genre of teenaged bliss & angst that cycles through our movie houses on a regular basis. Well, prepare yourselves, another is on the way. Our spy Q-bert has managed to bounce his/her way over the studio guards, down long hallways, and into the darkened Paramount super secret screening room to sneak a peak at 200 CIGARETTES and the following report from our little blue friend is our net result...

Saw a way in advance preview screening of the rough cut of "200 Cigarettes" last night at Paramount Studios. All the heavy hitters were there: Sherry Lansing, MTV CEO Tom Freston, many more. MTV Films is pinning all their hopes on this film, after the embarassment of that "dead man on campus." here's the skinny:

It's got a ripe set-up: new years eve, 1981. one big night in the lives of 6 young couples. if it sounds episodic, it is. it apes "american graffiti" in a lot of ways: structurally; in genre -- it's a coming of age movie; it uses a different pop song for each scene; it's loaded with hot young actors (the afflecks, courtney love, paul rudd, christina ricci, jay mohr, etc.). sounds promising.

Man is it a drag. now, it's an very early cut, so they can still fix the timing problems and figure out how to shape scenes a little better (every scene is shaped the same way: they all end with a punchline -- someone either literally falling down or giving an exasperated look as their partner walks away. it gets very redundant.

But, the biggest problem is the acting. it's all over the map. paul rudd and courtney are paired up and while he's all technique -- he's got all his vocal and physical choices worked out, has nailed the beats of each scene -- she just sort of wanders through each scene mumbling. the jig is up on ms. love: she just can't act. forman knew how to use her; here they have no idea. and other actors are very over the top: ricci and gabby hoffman among them, while others underplay the barely interesting dialogue -- notably ben affleck (who seems bored) and jay mohr. goldie hawns' daughter is quite a physical comedian and can deliver some line with real zing, but she's got no screen presence. not yet anyway.

Some funny jokes, a terrific set up (it nails that wandering around, desperate feeling of new years eve) and decent production design don't make up for a director that doesn't know how to get a consistant tone from her actors or how to visually keep more than one ball in the air. it's very flat.

Just call me q-bert.