A film that zeroes in on the forced enthusiasm of New Year's Eve celebrations, "200 Cigarettes" will certainly appeal to those who are already tiring of this year's millennial madness. As one cynic in the film puts it, "Every year it's the same desperate scrambling around, pretending to be happy."

Cue up NYC's East Village, New Year's Eve, 1981, where safety pins were fashion accessories, Soho had caught the scent of art money and Elvis Costello was second only to Johnny Rotten as a snotty young punk icon. (Hard to believe now, but true.) Debut director (and former Hollywood casting director) Risa Bramon Garcia employs an impressive cast -- featuring Ben and Casey Affleck, Christina Ricci, Courtney Love, Janeane Garofalo and more -- to follow more than a dozen hip, young urbanites as their party orbits spin toward a collision at the stroke of midnight.

Throwing that party is Monica (Martha Plimpton), who views its success as crucial to her own standing in the downtown social scene. When no one has shown up by 10 p.m., she starts to freak out (a weird premise, considering that no one ever shows up for a downtown party before midnight). Even her best friend Hillary (Catherine Kellner) threatens to leave, a move which is only prevented when Monica promises to set her up with her ex-boyfriend Eric (Brian McCardle).

Eric, meanwhile, is off at a bar with his current flame Bridget (Nicole Parker) and her punkette friend Caitlyn (Angela Featherstone). The girls decide to skip the party when they hear it's being given by Eric's ex, and when the hunky bartender (Ben Affleck) catches their eye, they decide to blow off Eric as well.

Getting very drunk at the same bar are Lucy (Courtney Love) and Kevin (Paul Rudd), best friends who are nevertheless at each other's throats. Kevin has just split with his "castrating" performance artist girlfriend, Ellie (Garofalo), and is determined to be miserable all evening, despite Lucy's efforts to cheer him up, which include proposing a quick shag in a toilet stall.

Also looking for that elusive party is Cindy (Kate Hudson) -- who lost her virginity to egocentric actor Jack (Jay Mohr) the night before and is looking for a way out of a rather uncomfortable date -- and suburban teeny-boppers Val (Christina Ricci) and Stephie (Gaby Hoffman), who find themselves being trailed by a pair of seedy punkers (Casey Affleck and Guillermo Diaz).

"200 Cigarettes" is a pretty decent romantic comedy, but like most such films these days the dollops of romance seem to be an excuse for some pretty feeble comedy. Many of the jokes in "200 Cigarettes" fall flatter than Wile E. Coyote, especially the bits involving Dave Chappelle's "Disco Cabbie," a cliche from an era already over by '81.

Garcia does have an eye for period detail, though, be it Caitlyn's "Flock of Seagulls" haircut or the punk boys' penchant for eye-liner, and she peoples her Manhattan with fairly recognizable caricatures. Christina Ricci and Gaby Hoffman, in particular, are painfully on the mark as a couple of clueless LongGuyland girls afraid to walk east of Avenue A, their idea of fashion lifted from a Go-Gos record. (It's quite possible, though, that no one under 30 will get the joke when they walk into a club full of thrashing mohicans and ask: "So, do you like Devo or what?")

Also appealing is Casey Affleck's young Sid Vicious wannabe, who turns out to be a naive romantic who falls in love with every girl he meets. This is an interesting undermining of stereotype, but his character isn't nearly developed enough. By film's end, the only characters we really start to care about are Love and Rudd, probably because they get the most screen time, but also because they bring some real electricity to their scenes.

While "200 Cigarettes" has captured the ruthless reality of singles sizing up their potential sexual scores before last call, it's also very hard to care for most of them, a motley bunch of poseurs and narcissists.

"200 Cigarettes" is obviously trying to be the "American Graffiti" of the Blank Generation, but while "Graffiti" had a bittersweet feeling as it marked the end of an era, there is no greater resonance to this film. True, the sexual freedom on display here was soon to be shaken by the backlash of the Moral Majority and the specter of AIDS, but this impending change is never even hinted at.

"200 Cigarettes" has little to say about the era it documents, merely dusting off the fashion and music for a nostalgia trip. Somehow, that doesn't seem surprising for a movie produced by MTV Films.