Thank You for Smoking

Rating

Director

Jason Reitman

Screenplay

Jason Reitman (Novel: Christopher Buckley)

Length

92 min.

Starring

Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, AdamBrody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, David Koechner, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy,J.K. Simmons, Robert Duvall, Kim Dickens

MPAA Rating

R (for language and some sexual content)

Review

Millions of Americans are addicted to cigarettes. The figures are there but the cigarette industry wants you to believe they aren’t all that bad for you. Thank You for Smoking is about the life of one man whose job it is to bolster the Big Tobacco in the public’s eyes.

Someone has to do it, right? Big industries need spokespeople too. Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) represents a tobacco research group whose sole job it is to convince the public that smoking is not only safe but enjoyable. Figures are tossed out both in favor and against throughout the film but it’s not whether smoking is good or bad for you that this witty satire is about.

Naylor sees himself as “morally flexible” but does his job because he’s good at it. Keeping friends is difficult when you’re shilling for one of the most hated industries in America but Naylor has lunch frequently with people just like himself. Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) represents the alcohol industry and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) speaks for the firearm business. They call themselves the M.O.D. Squad (Merchants of Death)and compare death statistics and other facts during their meals together.

Director Jason Reitman is more famous as the son of legendary comedy director Ivan Reitman than he is for his own career. Having directed a half-dozen other features, this is Reitman’s first major success. Jason takes a different approach to filmmaking than dear-old dad. Ivan’s work has been primarily in the broad humor category (Meatballs and Ghost Busters ). Thank You for Smoking however, is more satirical than anything Ivan’s ever done. Perhaps it’s this reason whySmoking is the family’s best picture to date (his father’s more subtle Davea close second). Whatever the reason, Ivan should be immensely proud.

Reitman does a fantastic job adapting Christopher Buckley’s novel to the screen. He keeps the film funny while tackling incredibly difficult topics. Helping in this affair, Eckhart does wonderful things with his role. He manages to create a sense of trust in the audience. We believe his motives and reasons behind what he does. We buy everything he’s selling, except the cigarettes. But buying into the tobacco industry isn’t the goal of the movie. Thank You for Smoking insists that we all play to our strengths and that’s what Naylor does.

The rest of the film is peppered with credible performances. Even the typically weak Katie Holmes is convincing. It’s an ensemble deserving recognition but the best things about the movie come from Reitman.

His script also espouses a more liberal look at the Freedom of Speech. Naylor doesn’t hate cigarettes. He’s a smoker after all. Nevertheless, he firmly believes that they can and do kill. That doesn’t stop him from making a living.

Despite his ex-wife’s protest, Nick proceeds to teach his son about what he does but not from a smoker’s perspective. Instead, he looks to the powers of persuasion and argument to teach his son about how to truly succeed. Even though he takes his son with him to west coast to speak with sleepless producer Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe), he tries to steer him clear of the more unpleasant parts of his job.

When Nick’s asked to make a detour to the original Marlboro Man Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott), Joey sees first hand both the dangers of the work his father does and the power of his speech. Joey supports his father despite his mother’s best efforts to dissuade him and the encounter with Lutch only cements his love for his father and the necessity of his work.

It is the scenes between father and son that give the film its power of persuasion. Setting aside the career, we see a loving relationship that grows and changes in the course of a film and we understand that it’s not important which side of the issue one chooses to take. It’s how we teach those around us that make us the people we are.

Review Written

May 20, 2006