THANK YOU FOR SMOKING Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Grade: A
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Written by: Jason Reitman, from the novel by Christopher
Buckley
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam
Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, David Koechner, Rob Lowe,
William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons, Robert Duvall, Kim Dickens,
Connie Ray, Todd Louiso
Screened at: Fox, NYC, 3/2/06
Opens: March 17, 2006 Not since Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" has there been a
satiric masterwork like Jason Reitman's superb "Thank You For
Smoking." In fact since Moore's pic is a documentary, however
biased, the political leftist has had to resort to telling the truth,
thereby undercutting some of the entertainment value that can
be better evoked by a fictionalized treatment of a political and
ethical subject. By letting his imagination run freely, Reitman
has provided us with a send-up of spin that compares favorably
even with Sidney Lumet's "Network"–a no-holds-barred satire of
television shows that will do anything to win ratings. (What
Lumet could not have known in 1976 was that TV has become
so imbecilic in its vulgarity that both mainstream and cable
channels have already trumped anything that characters
personified by William Holden, Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch
could have imagined.) With a script not just inspired but based largely on Christopher
Buckley's 1994 novel of the same name, Reitman succeeds in
penning slick prose filled with surprising ironies, delivered by a
crackerjack ensemble headed by the perfectly cast Aaron
Eckhart as lobbyist Nick Naylor–a man who makes his living by
talking. It would be a mistake to consider this film an indictment of
cigarettes. A story that simply beats that dead horse would be
simplistic, redundant agitprop. Even the most fanatical chain
smoker is aware by now that cigarettes kill, and that those who
survive have bodies that could harbor evils like emphysema,
horrendous breath, stained fingers, and given the taxes that
have been slapped on the packs in cities like New York, a slim
wallet. Instead, and bearing far more resonance, "Thank You For
Smoking" indicts the spin industry, whereby everyone from the
White House down to the champion sixth-grade debating team
uses sophistry to convince even the most educated and cynical
audience. As Nick Naylor emphasizes in counseling the 12-
year-old who worships him and glories in his every word, truth is
not as important as convincing argumentation. One wonders
whether a great spin doctor could convince Holocaust survivors
that Hitler was good for their health. The plot exists largely for a swift array bon mots, ironies, and
tongue-in-cheek repartee, all scenes edited to provide the
movie with perfect comic timing. Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is
the principal lobbyist, or spokesman, for the pretentiously
named Academy for Tobacco Studies, a man who does lunch
weekly with his best friends, Merchants of Death, aka The
M.O.D. Squad. They are the chief spin docs for the alcohol
industry, Polly (Maria Bello), and the gun lobby, Bobby Jay
(David Koechner). During their meetings they discuss ways to
counteract the broadsides of their opponents, principally the
liberal media who, they might imagine, would like to turn New
York into Salt Lake City East. On the home front, Nick, who is divorced, has the affection of
his 12-year-old boy, Joey (Cameron Bright), who accompanies
him on his trips to Washington and Winston-Salem to learn just
what a talker does for a living. Nick's principal opponent is
Senator Ortolan Finistirre (William H. Macy), who is pushing the
idea of requiring cigarette companies to put a skull and
crossbones on every pack, To prepare for the congressional
hearing, Nick's boss, BR (JK Simmons) sends the man to The
Captain (Robert Duvall), who is the overall honcho of the
Academy. Considerable hilarity arises from the characters that Reitman
throws into Nick's path, the most entertaining being Jeff Megall
(Rob Lowe), a Hollywood agent who for the right price will
convince studio execs to make smoking fashionable on the
screen as it was in the days of Humphrey Bogart. Sam Elliott
makes an appearance as Lorne Lutch, the original Marlboro
Man who is now dying of cancer, is a major opponent of the
tobacco industry, and must be bribed to keep his mouth shut.
Surprisingly, Nick's most successful opponent turns out to be
Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes), an investigate reporter out to
uncover the dirt about the lobbyists for death industries like
alcohol, guns and tobacco, and understands more than the
senator that you can get more dope realizing that men think
more with their loins than with their heads. "If you argue correctly, you're never wrong," is Nick's motto. In
master strokes of irony, Nick gets "Cancer Boy," a young, bald
victim of the dread disease, to shake hands with him on a TV
panel show by arguing that the last thing Big Tobacco wants to
happen to the lad is to see him die, thereby losing a customer.
When Senator Finistirre tells a crowded meeting that Nick's
beliefs are fashioned by his being paid a hefty sum, Nick
counters to the effect that "of course you're not influenced by
your campaign contributors." Best of all, he accuses the
Vermont legislator of killing more people with Vermont Cheddar
Cheese than the tobacco industry is guilty of removing others
from the world of the living. While Nick may have second thoughts about what he is doing
toward the conclusion of the picture, he's doing what he does
best. He talks. And he now consults with the telephone
industry, advising his fellow spin doctors how to approach the
charge that cell phones are tied to cancer. "Thank You For
Smoking" is hugely entertaining, ironically allowing smokers in
the audience to continue what they're doing without guilt while
making neo-puritanical liberals worry that maybe they're not the
saints they consider themselves to be. Rated R. 92 minutes © 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
