Thank You for Smoking

Nick Naylor is a talented man who is employed as one of the top spokesmen for "Big Tobacco". Sure he has to keep the alleged "truth" about the health effects, contributing to the death of 1200 people each and every day, but he's got to pay the mortgage just like the rest of us. He is separated from his wife but still wants to be a role model to his son while also pursuing his chosen career. Summoned to meet with The General (one of the last great tobacco barons), Nick is put in charge of pushing through new ways of promoting smoking while also defeating a push by Senator Finistirre to put a skull and crossbones on the front of every cigarette packet sold in the country.

If the plot summary sounds like this film has a definite narrative flow to it then I'm sorry for misleading you because, although it moves in a certain direction, it isn't that tight a story. It probably didn't help either that I had literally been in a different cinema watching Dr Strangelove an hour before I watched this film because this was never going to be able to compare (no matter what the current IMDb rating says!). The comedy isn't that sharp and in terms of satire this is about as mean as a poodle. This lack of teeth is evident from the very start where the opening credits are kind of cool, comic and fun; in the same way the comedy is cool, funny, enjoyable but not really something that rips into its subject with an acerbic wit that I expected. Part of me was thinking this at times that this was a problem but then I realised that it actually wasn't that big a deal.

The reason is that, sure it ain't a sharp satire, but it is a fun comedy with a general swagger and a great ear for dialogue. The story wanders and tends to go off in directions that it drops or doesn't follow through, but by staying with Nick at least we have a focal point that is interesting and engaging. I did have a bit of a problem swallowing Nick's sudden massive lack of professional judgement and the fact that it is a key part of the plot made the film seem to stall for a while, but such moments were mostly covered by the pace and energy of the majority. The targets are easy but the manner of writing produces a great feel of mocking them from the inside rather than being outside throwing stones. The "gentle mocking" approach takes away the edge but it makes the film easier to enjoy. It has a steadily amusing air to it while also throwing in lines, characters and touches that made me laugh out loud. Reitman may not be the future of satire but he can certainly do comedy and this film is all the better for this work as director and screen writer.

The cast is deep and everyone gets a piece (albeit mostly small pieces). The film belongs to Eckhart who has proved (Company of Men etc) that he seems to find it easy to play characters whose moral compasses are way off. He is as charming as he is soulless and he is a delight to watch – a major force in the film being as engaging as it was. The support cast includes some real heavyweight names such as Duvall, Bello, Elliott, Holmes, Macy, Simmons, Lowe and others. Generally the quality is high but I found the presence of Holmes to be a distraction and her "fully clothed" sex scenes to be pretty laughable – her lack of genuine sex appeal and chemistry here made her part of the plot much harder to buy.

Overall then this is not the sharp, acerbic satire that some reviewers would have you believe it is – it simply hasn't got the teeth or the balls for that. But this shouldn't matter too much because what it does do is produce a consistently fun atmosphere that is cynical without wandering away from being pretty mainstream in delivery. The cast are mostly very good but Eckhart dominates with a great lead role while the material keeps the laughs coming on a fairly regular basis.