Directed by Jason Reitman
Written by Jason Reitman (screenplay); Christopher Buckley (novel)
Starring Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Runtime: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated 14A

Evaluation: 7.5/10
by Greg Ferguson







I had a laugh a few weeks back when Thank You For Smoking author Christopher Buckley appeared on Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report. Discussing the subject of the book, being a satirical yet sympathetic take on the world of tobacco lobbying, Colbert's exaggerated Conservative retort was appropriately and hilariously ironic: "Who is a doctor to tell me that smoking will give me cancer? That's a personal choice whether or not I want cancer!" While immediately funny for its candid idiocy, there is an underlying wisdom in what he said and how which perfectly echoes the spirit and tone of both Buckley's book and now its delightful new film adaptation.

Over ten years coming, Thank You For Smoking, directed by newcomer Jason Reitman, is basically a ninety-minute visualization of Colbert's statement, concealing in its humour a backhanded concern for the moral and ethical responsibilities of big business in their appeal to civil liberties. It is an important message whose purpose in our society is ongoing especially among the youth, hence the film's major dilemma. Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), the grandstanding, home run-drivin' lobbyist who is at once part of a skeevy little trio called the MOD Squad (Merchants of Death) and a divorced father of one, is in a bind when he realizes the impact his questionable profession is having on his impressionable son (Cameron Bright). He doesn't appear to want to let go of his job, though, and incredibly allows his son to follow him around on the job. Talking is his true talent, and Nick loves the sport of spin and enjoys the challenge of talking his way into winning every argument, which he consistently does. What makes this a problem for him, though, is that it is his livelihood and, more dangerously, his identity. Forget for a moment that he happens to be hawking tobacco; what the film does so well is show how his unscrupulous desire to always be right is as egotistical as the psychology of a smoker, who is a cancer unto him- or herself and everyone else in their vicinity. Somehow, Nick has to see that he is damaging himself and his relationship with his son before it's too late.

Wisely, Thank You For Smoking uses comedy to cleverly underscore the ridiculousness of Nick's mentality and behaviour so that it's more recognizable to viewers. When it strays from this strategy, the film feels inescapably tedious as it gets around to making its point because it is one most of us already acknowledge. The film's last act, despite a surplus of witty remarks and lighthearted performances, is painfully facile and as obvious as the jarringly wrong title. It is best when it tackles the corporate slicksters and tricksters like Nick who actually straightface their wrongheaded rhetoric and snakily deflect blame they rightfully deserve, showing them to be first-order buffoons if not criminals. This is why satirizing public wrongdoing is so prevalent and popular. By publicly exposing such people and practices, it is hoped on some level that justice may be done. Fortunately, Reitman plays up the satire of the story for the bulk of its duration, disarming tobacco lobbyists and similarly "morally flexible" people by pointing out their foibles. After this film, if lighting up and risking cancer is still a personal choice of yours, you just may end up the subject of a sequel.

(Thank You For Smoking is currently playing at the Empire 8, Trinity Drive cinema, located at 125 Trinity Drive in Moncton.)