THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
Directed & Written by: Jason Reitman, based on the novel by Christopher Buckley.
Produced by: David O. Sacks.
Director of Photography: James Whitaker.
Edited by: Dana E. Glauberman.
Music by: Rolfe Kent.
Released by: Fox Searchlight.
Country of Origin: USA. 92 min. Rated: R.
With: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, David Koechner, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons & Robert Duvall.

The droll, politically incorrect humor of television (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development) comes to the big screen after a long dry spell in this adaptation of Christopher Buckley’s 1994 satire. Unlike the quick turn-around of television, movies, as is often the case, lag behind a few years. This send-up would be topical, and more acerbic, if it were still the ‘90s.

In his introductory voice-over, Academy of Tobacco Studies spokesman Nick Naylor (boyish Aaron Eckhart, returning to alpha-male terrain) declares, “Few people on this planet know what it is like to be truly despised,” not as a complaint but a badge of honor. He can smooth talk his way out of any quandary – “If you argue correctly, you’re never wrong.” (One of his many amusing monikers is the sultan of spin). Nick doesn’t so much make a point as he attacks the integrity of his opponent, practicing the politics of destruction.

Many of the film’s jabs are obvious. Hoping to restore cigarette’s glamour through product placement, Nick visits Los Angeles, where the film briefly turns to a loony and effective showbiz spoof, with Rob Lowe as a Zen-like Michael Orvitz-esque overlord at the talent agency EGO, the Entertainment Global Organization. Look out for the film’s own sly use of product placement.

The brisk and unapologetically glib script carries the film along as Naylor predictably squares off with a seductive journalist (Katie Holmes) and a fire-breathing and grandstanding senator (William H. Macy). And throughout, Nick competes with his two – and only – friends, an alcohol lobbyist and a firearms advocate, for who warrants vigilante justice the most. They have named their private clique the M.O.D. Squad, short for “The Merchants of Death.”

Fortunately, the comedy maintains its screw-you attitude despite a heart-rending threat. Vilified by the media, Nick is nevertheless adored by his mop-topped son from a failed marriage. (There are many close-ups of the tike looking up plaintively at his dad, which threaten to dilute the otherwise heaping dose of cynicism.) At a lean 92 minutes, director Jason Reitman hits his targets and moves on in a confident feature film debut, but the film doesn’t say anything new. There was even a sitcom about media manipulation – the innocuous Spin City. Still, Thank You for Smoking is as attention-grabbing and superficial as Chicago’s razzle-dazzle. Billy Flynn would be so proud. Kent Turner
March 17, 2005