100 Girls (2000)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

People are voting emotionally.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Though I don't usually go for romantic comedies, "100 Girls" is a standby favorite of mine. When Matt is trapped in an elevator during a power outage with a girl whose face he didn't see (obscured by a large load of laundry she was taking to the dorm laundry room), he finds that the anonymity of darkness allows him to overcome his shyness and actually talk to the other girl, rather than his usual response of being stunned into tongue-tied silence. Several meaningful conversations later, they share an incredible sexual interlude in the dark elevator, and Matt wakes the next morning hopelessly in love...and no idea as to the identify of his 'mystery girl'.This film is hilarious and awesome. There aren't many well-known actors in it, but that's okay. It still illustrates many poignant points about sex and the differences between men and women. I think that anyone who sees this film will end up laughing as well as nodding their head in silent agreement of the ideas and arguments put forth. You don't have to agree with everything, just sit back and enjoy the battle of the sexes! The humor is very good. Everything from a competitive battle of table hockey with the one girl involving a game of the loser stripping nude, to the young man finding himself in a troubling situation with the obnoxious and phony boyfriend of another girl, the laughs and the surprises never stop. All in all, this is a great movie that I highly recommend. However, it only works as a great film if you understand what to take seriously and what to laugh at.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Well, I guess we all thought it was gonna be an American Pie part II, with the same old sex jokes and the never ending paranoia about hot girls. "100 Girls" is away from this kind of movie. Matthew is an apparently insecure guy that is looking for the girl of his dreams. He isn't able to find her, but at least he spends time meeting other girls. Nothing that he does is particularly interesting, actually it's a shame the film is so out of action. However, in many scenes we have interesting thoughts involving men/women, sexism and life. The classroom scenes with that feminist teacher is really wise and funny, I know many girls who think like that-- I'm a guy and I also agree with some of those ideas. The film just isn't better because of its lack of 'action' scenes, which made it look too light for the audience it's been made for. In fact, I believe this film works better with late teens and young adults than with real teens.

The premise, as is so often the case with teen comedies, is dumb, particularly when there is an attempt at originality. To make things more absurd, the main male character (Tucker) is a skinny nerd lacking charisma whom the film-makers were trying to pass off as a funny, solid-looking guy. But the height of absurdity is the constant, incessant philosophizing that comes out of Tucker's tireless motor-mouth. His never-ending drivel about men and women is only rarely semi-amusing but it is mostly stupid, and as the movie goes on (and regresses in quality) Tucker's dull musings get decreasingly un-PC and eventually quite PC. This culminates in him coming to the conclusion that women should be in power, la-di-da-di-da, with which his best female chum - a lesbian as it turns out later - obviously agrees. The the worst scene, the one scene that could have single-handedly sunk this bomb even without the other flaws, is when Tucker gives that long, slimy, brown-nosing, I'm-humbler-than-thou, totally retarded speech in front of the virgin dorm professing his love for the unknown girl. This was both embarrassing and annoying to watch. In the end, it turns out that the girl is none other than the dorm's floozy, who - incredibly absurdly - refuses his vomitary offering of love because he doesn't "look at her the way a boy looks at his longed-for birthday present" or some such melodramatic and totally dumb baloney.

I really enjoyed this movie but not because it was one of those great movies. You know what I mean by great movies? They speak to you on many levels, they bring you up and down in an emotional roller-coaster ride, they astound you with their displays of skill in direction, script, cinematography and acting, and they are innovative beyond belief. When you leave the theater, you think about them for days. Critics love them, professors explain them and students ponder over them. This is not one of those movies.Then there are other movies that are just enjoyable and make you feel good. They don't require a lot of attention to follow or figure out. You know where they are going but they have just enough of the unexpected to make the journey interesting. You know the hero/heroine will win out in the end, and you like that because that makes it safe to connect with the hero/heroine. When you leave the theater, you are happy because it is nice to think that life could be like that, and that things could work out.Some reviewers here have complained about plot holes and other things in the film. They miss the point. This is not a slice of life, a deep drama or complex comedy. It is a fantasy. If you are a guy, you can see yourself in Matt, and if you are female you see parts of yourself in the one or all of the 100 girls. The fact that some things are not probable only adds to the atmosphere fantasy in the film. After the first few minutes you already know that this is not real life. This is a myth about a boy and a girl. The boy is on a quest to find his love, and the girl is yearning presence shrouded in mystery waiting to be found. You know he will eventually find her; that he will go though improbable experiences which will test him and she will anguish over allowing herself to be discovered and revealed. We all have such quests, and such desires. You know that in the end he will win, and so will she and so will many of the other characters. It is an age old story that has been retold and retold for thousands of years, and it is one of mankind's most beloved stories. When it is over you feel happy and think that maybe things can be good for you too. That is a kind of magic that many "great movies" never achieve, but this one does. So if you see this movie, don't over-analyze it. Just go with it, and enjoy feeling good.