THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Originally reviewed in 2006)
A satire about smoking campaigns seems absolutely ripe for this day and age. Many die from lung cancer thanks to smoking, and many others don't and smoke a lifetime's worth. "Thank You For Smoking" aims to cultivate our nation's demand to make smoking synonymous with evil, and it does a bravura job through humor and lightning paced quips and repartee.
Aaron Eckhart is Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. His job is to promote smoking at any cost, including making an appearance on the Joan Lunden show and pointing out that a boy stricken with cancer is owed the right to smoke. He attacks the anti-smoking lobbyists who promote the idea that cigarettes will kill the boy, known as Cancer Boy, which would kill the chance of him ever smoking again. So he advocates smoking, turns the tables slightly, and has the audience applause on his behalf. One could say that Nick Naylor is the best spin doctor ever.
Nick often has dinner with two other members of the MOD (Merchant of Death) squad. One is Polly Bailey (Maria Bello), an alcohol lobbyist, and the other is an overzealous firearms lobbyist, Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner). They altercate over which product has a higher body count, though they never discuss the ethics and machinations of the product they are lobbying for (that would be for another movie).
Problems are arising in the media when Vermont Senator Finistirre (William H. Macy) is appealing for legislation where a skull and crossbones visual would appear on every cigarette box, replacing the already clear Surgeon General warning. He wants the visual with the word "poison" imprinted as a safety against those who can't speak English at all (how timely!). Nick has to work overtime to prevent such legislation, making appeals to everyone including a Hollywood producer (Rob Lowe), who would include smoking in an upcoming movie set in space with Brad Pitt, and even the Marlboro Man himself! To top it off, Nick has to deal with an ex-wife who's afraid he is a negative influence on her son (Cameron Bright). There is also an ambitious reporter (Katie Holmes) who faintly promises Nick that what he says when they're having sex is strictly off-the-record. Yeah, right.
There is more to "Thank You For Smoking" but in the interest of brevity, I shall be brief of the movie's many pleasures. As pure satire, based on a book by Christopher Buckley, it scores a direct hit. The movie delights in the hypocrisies of everyone involved in defending and arguing against smoking. As Nick says at one point to Senator Finistirre, cheese can cause cholesterol problems so what if there were a campaign against cheese ("Vermont will not apologize for its cheese"). Smoking can cause lung cancer and other health problems yet that won't stop anyone from smoking. In one superbly written scene, Nick explains to his son his analogy with chocolate, arguing that most people want chocolate yet some prefer vanilla - he will fight for vanilla because he's always right. The moral of a spin doctor being that if you argue, you are right. It isn't just about his son, it is everyone else.
Aaron Eckhart has clearly his most acute, complex role since his film debut in "In the Company of Men." This time, Eckhart plays a more likable character in the sense that his Nick is seemingly sincere about what he's selling to the American people and yet we sense that he doesn't wish to be a part of it. It is that sneaking sincerity that helped build his powerhouse performance in "In the Company of Men" (he played a far worse slimeball in that movie), and it works here as well. Nick is a salesman of words and watch the scene with the Marlboro Man (Sam Elliott) and you'll see how his sneakiness works in Nick's favor, and how anyone can be bought with just enough manipulation.
The rest of the cast dazzles as well. J.K. Simmons is shaping up to be one of my favorite character actors and here he plays B.R., Nick's headstrong boss who is relying on Nick to make tobacco the seductive drug it once was, especially in movies. William H. Macy, a man who can't give a bad performance, wrings laughs and pathos as the hypocritical senator. Rob Lowe is truly hysterical as the Hollywood exec with an affinity for Japanese culture. Maria Bello and David Koechner are ideally cast as feuding lobbyists. Let's not forget the divine Robert Duvall as the Captain, the big boss of the tobacco industry. Even a cameo from the terminally annoying Dennis Miller brings a few laughs into the mix.
If there is one disappointment in casting, it is Katie Holmes (Miss Tom Cruise Who Had Me At Scientology) as the backstabbing reporter. Although she made her mark in "Go" and "Batman Begins," she doesn't credibly register as a reporter of any type - you sense she'd be better off reporting on the high school wrestling team. And her continuous sex romp with Nick is so underdeveloped that you forget Holmes is even playing a reporter.
At a sharp, brisk 92 minutes, "Thank You For Smoking" makes you wish it were longer. There is such a wealth of good material that it could've easily been mined for an additional half-hour. Director Jason Reitman (Ivan's son) does a stellar job of adapting Christopher Buckley's book, mining it for the nuances and quirks that will easily elude most ADD viewers. Complete with countless freeze frames, Nick's sardonic voice over and endless pokes at the stupidity of anti-smoking campaigns, "Thank You For Smoking" is the kind of movie that gets funnier the more you think about it.
