Thank You For Smoking

There is perhaps no greater divide in our society between the smokers and the nonsmokers. Being a member of the "non" community, and having lived around smokers in my family most of my life, I have seen it first hand. Of course, you don't have to be in a situation like mine to see it. You can see it on television every day, and read about it in the news whenever a business or a local city decides to ban smoking from public areas. With how divided we have become as a nation on the subject, it is high time for a satire that digs deep into the issues, and I can't think of a better one than Thank You For Smoking. In adapting the novel by Christopher Buckley, writer-director Jason Reitman (son of famed comic director Ivan Reitman) has brought us a perfectly balanced piece of social satire that makes fun of both sides of the argument equally. It also finds time to skewer Politicians and modern day Hollywood. With lazy and uninspired comedies taking up valuable space at your local cinema every day, you need to grab the good ones while you can, and Thank You For Smoking is definitely one of the good ones.

Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is a man just trying to make a living. Unfortunately, his living happens to revolve around the Tobacco industry. More specifically, he's a spokesperson. It's his job to be the "face" of the industry, and defend it whenever the need arises - whether it be a talk show or speaking before grim-faced Senators. He is a self-proclaimed member of the "M.O.D. Squad" (M.O.D. meaning Merchants of Death), which also includes his two close friends - an alcohol lobbyist (Maria Bello) and a spokesman for firearms (David Koechner). Now, Nick's not a monster. He knows what his company deals in, and he knows the ultimate consequences to most of his industry's customers. He's even got a young son (Cameron Bright in his third performance in less than two months) who is all too aware of his father's business. Regardless, it is his job to spin the truth, and he's one of the best when it comes to it. He's a guy who can appear on a talk show with a sickly boy suffering from Cancer, and turn the audience to his favor.

The film follows Nick through the various trials and tribulations that come from his job. Not long after being assigned to jet off to Hollywood to talk to a hot shot producer (Rob Lowe) about making smoking cool again in the movies, then he finds himself in the crosshairs of a shifty Vermont Senator (William H. Macy) who is gunning to put a much larger warning label on cigarette packs. (Complete with a graphic skull and crossbones icon.) Aside from dealing with his son and his ex-wife, Nick must also contend with the original Marlboro Man (Sam Elliott) who has recently been diagnosed with Cancer, and is rallying against the Tobacco industry, as well as a sleazy reporter (Katie Holmes) who is all but willing to sleep with her clients in order to get the story she needs. All this, and death threats from rabid anti smoking campaigns, makes up the life of a man just trying to make a decent living, even if that decent living is tied to the deaths of enough people to fill two jumbo jets each year, as Nick states in narration early in the film.

The amazing thing that Thank You For Smoking pulls off that I didn't even realize until after the movie is over is how well the story is told. Not only is the movie hysterically funny in its honest and frank look at all sides of the argument, but it is also told in such a way so that not one single moment of its 92-minute running time is wasted. There are no "filler" scenes or no moments that your interest starts to lag. The timing of the jokes and the dialogue is spot on throughout, an amazing achievement that's all the more amazing when you consider that director Jason Reitman does not have many films to his credit. He knows how to write dialogue that is smart, funny, and thought-provoking, and he knows how to edit everything together in a perfect flow. Perhaps more than this, he knows how to handle his characters. The character of Nick Naylor is probably one of the trickiest lead roles to appear in a comedy in quite some time. Nick is not a "good" man, nor is he completely wrong with what he says and does. He constantly walks the fine line between trying to be a decent man around his son when he comes to visit on weekends, and trying to talk his way out of messy situations on national television when he is faced by those who wish to vilify him simply because of what he does. Actually, his career and his life with his son is not far separated, as he is constantly trying to explain to his son what he does in a positive light. It is a credit to both the screenplay and the performance by Aaron Eckhart that the character of Nick comes across as a believable and even likeable character.

More so than the main character of Nick, is the way that even the smallest character is handled. Even characters who have one or two scenes can leave lasting impressions. A good example is Sam Elliott's portrayal of the original Marlboro Man, who has since shunned the industry he once advertised. Nick comes to his house with a suitcase full of money, hoping to keep him quiet while the Tobacco companies go before the Senate to plead their case. This obviously puts Elliott's character in a tight spot. He wants the money, but it wouldn't be ethical to take it. And if he did take it, he'd have to give it away. And he is finding it hard to convince himself he could give so much away. It is a small scene, but the dark humor of the moment and understated sadness in Elliott's performance makes the scene memorable. Equally memorable are the numerous scenes where Nick and his two friends from the alcohol and firearms divisions gather at a local restaurant to swap stories about their personal trials and hardships representing their respective firms. The rapid fire and quick-witted dialogue exchanges are memorably crafted and executed. It's smartly written comedies like this that makes me look down on movies like Scary Movie 4 even more. Instead of broad slapstick and gross out humor, this film lets the humor rise out of the characters and the situations.

That's not to say Thank You For Smoking is completely complaint free. There are some ideas brought up in the film that I thought could have been explored even more, such as the subplot about Nick being assigned to make smoking in movies acceptable in roles other than "villains and terrorists". What's there works so well that it's almost a shame that the idea is dropped almost halfway through the movie. Rob Lowe is hilarious as a hot shot producer who has to help Nick find a way to make cigarettes a strong product placement in an upcoming sci-fi film starring Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones. His one or two scenes are so strong that you almost wish they had followed through a bit more. Perhaps the film's short running time is to blame, as the film is full of so many good ideas that there's just not enough time to fully explore them all. An extra 15-minutes or even a half hour would be appreciated in this case.

However, I must admit, I really am just nitpicking here, and that's because there's not really too much to complain about. Thank You For Smoking is the first consistently funny comedy of the year. It's very rare to come across a film where just about everything clicks and falls into place, but Jason Reitman has managed just that. In my opinion, he has surpassed his father's more recent film efforts. The film is currently trapped in a fairly limited release at the moment, but I highly recommend you take the time to track it down. If there was just one more Thank You For Smoking for every Grandma's Boy or Big Momma's House 2, the movie world would be a much better place.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

3 comments