The Smokers (2000) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)
Teenage girls turn the tables when three outcasts at a toney prep school decide to use mom's old pistol to rape some boys at gunpoint.

When they commit their heinous acts, they wear Disney masks, and they're known is "the smokers" because ... um ... because they all smoke. Pretty imaginative, eh?

NUDITY REPORT
no female

male: rear end shot from Joel West
The cast is not bad, including Dominique Swain, Busy Philipps of Dawson's Creek, and Thora Birch in a small role. Unfortunately, the script has a great gaping flaw in it. If it were going to work as some kind of drama/revenge thing, they'd need a motivation. But we don't see much reason for all this pent-up hate, and even when they talk about it we don't hear any real horror story that could help us see their point of view. As a result, the film just consists of some people being mean to other people, for no real cause. Who are we supposed to relate to, I wonder?

DVD info from Amazon.

  • Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1

  • no meaningful features

It is possible that the film was trying for black comedy, but it is heavy-handed and unfunny, so I don't know if we can use that as an excuse or justification for the poor dramatic flow and lack of identification with the characters.

Since there is no nudity, you probably want to avoid it completely, and then you won't have to sweat out their motivations.

The Critics Vote

  • filmcritic.com 2/5

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDB readers say 5.3/10.

 
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a D+.

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