Review

Review Date: 2-April-06
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Thank You for Smoking (2006)

Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is an entertaining character. He's whip-smart, attractive, cynical, and fearless. He describes himself as "that guy who can get any girl, but on crack" (or something like that), meaning that he tirelessly hunts for big game and always bags what he wants. He's funny too, or at least his job as a tobacco-company lobbyist gives him access to funny situations, e.g., weekly lunches with fellow lobbyists for guns and alcohol (Maria Bello, David Koechner), strategy sessions with his tactless boss (J. K. Simmons), and business meetings with potential allies like a movie producer willing to re-equate cigarettes with cool (Rob Lowe). During "Thank You for Smoking," which is his memoir of sorts, Nick hustles Joan Lunden, Dennis Miller, a couple of cancer patients, and a crusading senator from Vermont (William H. Macy) and portrays amoral manipulation as an almost admirable skill. He's a hoot. I like him. He makes me laugh. But I don't really fancy his movie.

The fact is, once Nick is introduced and the amusement at his lifestyle wears off, "Thank You for Smoking" starts to wheeze. The script has no real highs, lows, or purpose, and Jason Reitman, who made the film from Christopher Buckley's book, seems reluctant to allow the hero's story to be caustic. He attempts to give Nick a grounding and a growth experience by saddling him with a son (Cameron Bright) who is incoherent at best and frightening at worst. Although the boy's first line is "don't ruin my childhood," he shows no embarrassment or mistrust for his dad thereafter, and it's unclear whether we're supposed to be concerned by the lessons Nick teaches him (which are scary) or relieved that his paternal adoration is reciprocated. Similarly, attempts are made to show how Nick is humbled by his interaction with an old tobacco baron (Robert Duvall) and a reporter as dedicated as he (Katie Holmes), but these feel like stock characters setting up stock conclusions. It also strikes me as odd that Reitman never shows Nick (or anyone else) actually smoking a cigarette or, for that matter, the participants in the sex scenes taking off their clothes. The restraint on the part of the filmmaker doesn't jibe with Nick's licentious brio, and the underlying plot is a mere matter of starting in one place and ending in another without movement in between. Get rid of the filler and what's left is an interesting leading man in a story as flimsy (though nowhere near as unpleasant) as a puff of smoke.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.