Review: Thank You For Smoking
Man, did I ever need to see this movie! Like a cool drink after a long week in a soul-crushing cubicle; like walking into a blast of air conditioning on a sweltering day; like stepping into an expansive Vegas casino after an airplane flight jammed between the sprawl of a smelly oaf and the shrieking of a toddler cracked out on sugar and bad parenting and in bad need of another hit (pun intended)—Jason Reitman’s film debut, Thank You For Smoking is exactly the kind of good film that I didn’t realize I had been so hungry for. It’s the feel good movie of the year for people who like their America uncensored and intelligent.
Reitman is the son of filmmaker Ivan Reitman, who is responsible for films such as Ghostbusters, Meatballs, and Dave. The apple may not have fallen far from the tree, but in this case that’s something to be happy about. Thank You For Smoking is delicious satire, and after a year full of dead-serious political films, it is refreshing to see something that can be political and funny without merely spewing an obviously partisan party line. How nice it is to once again see something that qualifies as rebellious and irreverent! The plot centers on Aaron Eckhart’s perfect portrayal of Nick Naylor, who is—get ready for it—a likable lobbyist for Big Tobacco. Somehow, the film makes you root for Naylor while setting up an environmentalist Senator from Vermont (played by William H. Macy) as the bad guy. The film's greatest slight of hand is making you believe that in his way, Naylor is standing up for the forces of freedom while Macy’s Senator Finnistirre represents the kind of authoritarian control that really threatens America.
If there’s a weakness to the film, it’s that the plot runs a touch on the thin side. The film is more a simple look into Naylor’s world and worldview. However, the joy of the film is that it stays true to its satirical roots for its short and sweet 92-minute running time. There is an obnoxious trend in comedies of late to start funny and then flop into grossly underwritten treacle. If Thank You For Smoking were one of these films, it would end with Naylor finding a conscience and quitting his job to protect the young children of the world (such as his son) from demonic corporations like Big Tobacco. There would be some moment where he realized how soulless his moral flexibility was and changed his ways. Thankfully, there is no such turn, and the conclusion is infinitely more satisfying because of it. You might as well go elsewhere if you’re looking for the unrestrained sentimentality of all romantic comedies and most teenage sex comedies (including such recently lauded entries as The Wedding Crashers and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which for all their good jokes still cannot prevent themselves from cranking up the cheese in their final acts, so that their characters can grow up and stop doing the kind of stuff that made them interesting enough to watch in the first place).
Thank You For Smoking is not only good enough to redeem the recent sins of the comedy genre, but it made me love my country again. It is the first film of 2006 that you must see.
Note: While Thank You For Smoking is Reitman’s feature debut, he has written and directed several very funny short films, three of which are available at atomfilms.com. With a combined running time of less than a half-hour, these could make a great appetizer before the show or a satisfying encore. If you only watch one of them, it should be Consent: a short and very clever look at "safe sex." Follow the links for the films: