Thank You for Smoking

Just saw this as it premiered in Toronto - awesome cast, very funny dialog, and more than skin deep. First time director does a nice job - and the opening credits are noteworthy. RECOMMENDED. Pokes fun at the smoking industry (and lobbyists), but at others as well, and its hard to disagree with the sharp satire. Rob Lowe's small role is priceless, the casting was perfect across the board. Nick Naylor's (Eckart) relationship with his son is center and keeps some genuine qualities through all the laughs. My friend and I both rated this near the top or at the top of the 7 films we saw in Toronto last weekend. Not sure what its distribution / release schedule is yet, as there was still some debate over who had actually purchased the rights to it. Eckart in person came across as very genuine and is also in another great upcoming movie - Neverwas.

Ivan Reitman must be so proud. I'm not kidding, his son Jason has come out with a caustic original comedy all his own. I don't know what people outside Los Angeles may make of this. They may think is science fiction when, in fact, most people who have spent any time there knows that this is as normal as going to church in the Vatican. The scenes inside the CAA like agency are even underplayed if you believe that. Aaron Eckhart is as perfect as they come. The charming monster with human sides. William H Macy, Rob Lowe and the rest of the cast are great fun to watch. I'm rooting for this movie to make a zillion bucks. It'll be nice to have more good writing, good acting and good direction in March for a change.

First of all, sorry for the cheesy title. I couldn't help myself. Second of all, "Thank You for Smoking" is, in fact, a darn good satire - one of the best I've seen since "Election". Aaron Eckhart holds the picture together with a witty, charismatic performance as a tobacco lobbyist. The film is basically about his profession as he spins the news, pitches a movie idea, dodges a subpoena, has an affair with a reporter (Katie Holmes), tries to spend time with his son (Cameron Bright), and has lunch with an alcohol lobbyist (Maria Bello) and a firearms rep (David Koechner) - where they literally compare body counts. The performances are excellent across the board, from William H. Macy's crusading Senator to Rob Lowe's smirking Hollywood agent who struts around his office in a kimono. Even Adam Brody is enjoyable as Lowe's hyperactive assistant whose in-joke with a co-worker earned one of the biggest laughs of the movie.

The majority of the credit, however, needs to go to first-time feature director Jason (son of Ivan) Reitman. Adapting from Christopher Buckley's novel, Reitman has fashioned an enormously clever script, consistent and strong in character, yet not forgetting to be incredibly funny. The style is also perfect - brisk, light-hearted, with impeccable timing marred only by a tangental subplot including Sam Elliott that is, sadly, not very funny. Overall, however, the pace is fast enough where the laughs keep coming.

Reitman also does the unthinkable: he keeps the satire dark and funny to the very end. While most comedies stray blindly into the sentimental, "Thank You" avoids unnecessary emotional tripe and - thankfully - avoids sermonizing about the dangers of smoking or of the flaws of the political process. Eckhart's flawless performance and Reitman's wonderful screenplay anchor an uncommonly perceptive comedy, provided you take yours black. If you need a little cream and sugar, "Fun with Dick and Jane" might still be at the dollar theater.

I saw this movie at a screening in DC last night. It was great. Aaron Eckhart, the single leading man with the WORST haircut in Hollywood (full disclosure - I'm damn near bald) matches very well with the direction of Reitman. From the get-go, it's a fast-paced send-up of everyone and everything in the tobacco war. The entire cast does a good job (w/ the exception, maybe, of Katie Holmes). Rob Lowe is hysterical in his cameo, but I have to say Eckhart & his MOD squad buddies (Maria Bello & David Koechner) really light up the screen. Their scenes of discussing the dealing out of death through the industries they represent over drinks are a real strong point of the movie.

The fact that this movie doesn't take sides - and really, could be about any issue, because it's more about the MAN behind the spokesperson - but makes fun of all sides in the tobacco issue. The interaction b/w Nick Naylor (Eckhart) & the old Marlboro Man (Sam Elliot) is priceless, as is the back-and-forth between Naylor & Senator Ortolan Finistirre (William H. Macy) towards the end of the film -it's basically good actors doing what they do well - and it's very funny.

The movie's also a little bit touchy-feely, focusing for a bit on the relationship b/w Naylor & his son, Joey (Cameron Bright) - the kid's good & some of the lines written for him are priceless.

There was one odd, stupid thing - and my wife agrees w/ me on this, so I'm not just being a guy; there are 2 'sex' scenes w/ Eckhart & Katie Holmes, but zero nudity. Nada. Not even partial. We see them having sex in multiple places & positions, but they're almost completely clothed. It just took away from the credibility is all I'm trying to point out here - as I said, my wife actually made the comment before I did.

Bottom line, it's a great movie - well worth the price of admission. It's funny, it's entertaining & it moves, what more could you ask for?

EDITED to omit reported 'spoilers'. And by spoilers I don't mean the "Bruce Willis is dead" type, but "Bruce Willis is bald" types. *sigh*

Some jobs are harder than others but Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), tobacco industry spokesman, handles his with effortless skill. Along with two other spokespeople for the alcohol- and firearms industry respectively, he is part of the self-appointed M.O.D. squad ("Merchants of Death") whose main objective is to talk. To BS. To spin. To confuse and convince their opponent, and charm their audience. A job of such nature naturally requires a certain moral flexibility, and with smooth-talk and sex appeal, it is apparent that Nick is incredibly gifted in this area.

He goes on TV-shows, verbally battles U.S. senators, deems the Cancer Research Foundation "arseholes" – all the while trying to set an example for his 10-year-old son. This is naturally very difficult, doing what he does. So as Big Tobacco (for whom he is a lobbyist) launches a campaign to reinstate the "cool smoking" image into mainstream Hollywood, and sends Nick to work a producer for the proper product-placement, Nick decides to bring his son along for the ride, to see "how daddy works" in hopes to bond with him.

Good satires are hard to come by, but Reitman's "Thank You For Smoking" is so wet with sarcasm and dripping with humour that it is impossible not to enjoy. It navigates the fast-paced industry, the art of talking and spoofs the anti-smoking camp with their chiché "cancer-sick boy in a wheelchair" front (as seen in the opening scene of the film), and it explores the moral flexibility of Americans, without preaching too much in doing so. Only once does it fall prey to predictable moral messages, as when Nick starts reevaluating his work and has moral qualms following his kidnapping by an anti-smoking group, only to swoop down into tongue-and-cheek mode again and return twice as biting – and twice as funny.

Although the film is evenly peppered with fun one-liners and perfect delivery from its cast, the best scene is when the M.O.D. squad are at their usual restaurant hang-out at the end of the day and brag to each other and argue over whose business kills the most people per year. Nick: "How many alcohol-related deaths per day? 100,000? That's what... 270 a day? Wow. 270 people, tragedy. Excuse me if I don't exactly see terrorists getting excited about kidnapping anyone from the alcohol-industry." Maria Bello who plays the detached, funny Moderate Spokeswoman for alcohol has great in-your-face aptitude and attitude, "That's stupid arguing." Aaron Eckhart is also hilarious throughout in a shady businessman way (I now have a major crush on him). Out of all the cast, only Nick's little kid Joe chokes on the well-written lines.

In fact, even the cinematography is well-crafted in the film... just the way a scene cuts to another deserves credit, opening with a rapid-fire ironic note. Speaking of which, "Thank You"'s opening montage of cigarette packages as credits is a stroke of genius on Reitman's part. So are the various casting choices – the amount of respected actors that have been crammed into supporting roles in impressive (Robert Duvall, Sam Elliot, William H. Macy) and give rise to an almost familiar and "feel-good" tone in the film.

That said, I wouldn't call this "laugh-out-loud worthy" exactly and I didn't care for the ending but it is clear that a lot of thought has been put into Thank You For Smoking – every line is a well-articulated kick up the arse to something and delivered by the bucket-load. A very enjoyable little satire.

8 out of 10