"Thank You For Smoking" follows Big Tobacco's main spokesman while he "filters the truth" about cigarettes and struggles to remain a positive influence on his 12-year-old son.
The film is a clever satire about how the truth is only a small fraction of what Americans are bombarded with every day. Are cigarettes really that bad for you? What about alcohol or firearms? There are powerful groups of people making sure the obvious truth about these products is diluted and masked to look like something else. "Thank You For Smoking" uses shrewd humor to put these spin doctors in front of audiences for evaluation.
The film opens with the credits creatively portrayed as cigarette labels to the tune of the country song "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette!" It's as if the song was written for the film — the lyrics are a perfect summary of the ideas expressed by various characters in the film.
Nick Naylor, played by Aaron Eckhart, isn't going to say cigarettes won't kill you, but he won't say they will, either. Naylor avoids giving straight answers by posing questions such as the one he asks the guests on a talk show full of health activists and a cancer patient: How would Big Tobacco profit from the death of this boy? Naylor explains it's in Big Tobacco's best interest to keep people alive and smoking, and it is the anti-cigarette activists who really want the cancer boy to die for their cause. The audience goes wild and boos the activist, not Naylor, off the stage.
While it's farfetched, it's not entirely off base from reality. The film manages to strike a balance between ridiculous and realistic. The two extremes even out and make for an extremely witty comedy about contemporary issues.
The character dialogue is hilarious. The whole script is packed with really smart humor that doesn't rely on the use of one-liners. The characters build on each other to create intensely funny situations and conversations that go deeper than a punch line.
For the most part, the actors pull their characters off convincingly. William H. Macy nails the part of Vermont Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre. Macy's portrayal of the power hungry, relentless and somewhat ridiculous politician adds to the film's character depth. The senate is just one more prime place for satire to strike — it provides the film with some of its funniest scenes.
Katie Holmes is the only acting talent disappointment in "Thank You For Smoking." Her character, reporter Heather Holloway, sleeps with Naylor to trick him into revealing the truth about the way he and his lobbyist friends do business. Holloway is supposed to be a well-endowed, sultry character who gets around. Holmes plays the part about as convincingly as a 13-year-old girl would. It's already questionable why the Holloway character was written into the script, Holmes' performance guarantees viewers will conclude the film would have been better without it.
The plot, or lack thereof, is the film's only other shortcoming. The father-son relationship provides a kind of context for everything that is going on but fails to engage the viewer. There seems to be no struggle — Naylor's son worships him throughout the entire movie. There isn't any kind of challenge there for the viewer to invest in. Although the relationship provides some meat to the plot, at times their interactions seem tacked on and forced. The flaw is more about the script and less about the characters.
Despite the weak story line, "Thank You For Smoking" is a rare and delightful comedy. Its fiercely intelligent humor more than compensates for its less-than-perfect plot. It will dazzle and entertain nonsmokers and smokers alike.
