A group of twenty-something New Yorkers' lives are depicted on New Year's Eve 1981. Monica is throwing the New Year's party of the century only to be disappointed that no one has shown up. As she makes preparations in her East Village apartment, only one friend arrives, Hillary, and she foresees a doomed celebration. Later, her Scottish ex drops by and after an awkward fight, Monica starts drinking and gets hammered. Meanwhile, all over the city, the party invitees are shown doing their own thing before finally making their way to Monica's.
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We meet recently dumped Kevin who is hanging out at a bar with his best friend Lucy. Kevin's girlfriend Ellie broke up with him the day before, and he is ranting like a spoiled brat. Lucy on the other hand flirts with the bartender and asks him to the party. In a spontaneous act of craziness, they decide to hook up in the bathroom stall of Kevin and Ellie's coffee shop hangout, and are busted by Ellie, who storms off and rides a disco-themed cab driven by a groovy driver (he at one point or another, he drives each of the characters all over town and gets a taste of their eccentricities).
There's wise-cracking Long Island girls Val (Monica's cousin) and Stephie, aimlessly wandering on the wrong side of town, apparently lost. They bicker and blame each other for their predicament. They cross paths with two punk rockers Tom and Dave who seem shady at first, but turn out to be cool.
Two other girls, Bridget and Caitlyn start a dare of sleeping with new people tonight after Bridget gets rid of her boyfriend Eric (Monica's Scottish ex). However, as the night progresses, nothing much comes out of their guy flirting.
Then there's Cindy, who hooks up with Jack but then realizes that he's a jackass who takes her virginity. She is naive and unconfident, but stands up for herself by telling Jack exactly what she thinks of him.
Later in the night, they end up at Monica's, only Monica is too drunk to realize that her party is eventually a success. We see the different characters pair up with the most unlikely people proving that on New Year's Eve, anything and everything is possible.
Best part of story, including ending:
I think it was a lame attempt at giving us interesting character studies of young single New Yorkers. The era didn't add any charm, neither did their conversations which weren't even remotely funny.
Best scene in story:
Kevin and Lucy in an awkward attempt of making out, and being caught.
Opinion about the main character:
Monica must live a pretty boring life for her happiness to ride on a single party. Her friends are apparently as pathetic as she is.
