Father: How did you convince her(mother)?
Son: I made it an argument, not a negotiation.
Father: That's my boy.

I was all worried going to Thank You For Smoking that it was just going to be a liberal propaganda feel good machine that preachily poked at big tobacco. My politics skew heavily liberal, but I still get turned off by propaganda and preachy movies (I'm hit an miss with Michael Moore for example.)

But to my delight Thank You For Smoking didn't do this at all, not even a bit. This is not a movie about the evils of big tobacco, big tobacco only serves as the bad cause which gives the movie it's purpose. It's really about Nick Naylor, a lobbyist and the public face of the tobacco conglomerate. It doesn't matter that he works for tobacco specifically, it matters that he works for a multi-national corporation that the public generally despises but also wants around (other less clear options: fast food, pornography, gun manufacturers, oil companies, big pharmaceuticals.) This movie isn't really about lobbying either, it doesn't explore the question of whether lobbying is a good thing to have around. It's really about Nick. It light-heartedly explores the kind of person who does that job and the way it can be done very, very well.

Of course, this isn't a real look at the kind of person who does this. Nick is a fabrication. That's why this is a satirical comedy, not a drama. But let me tell you, he sure is fun to watch. He rambles though his job, fast talking everyone, always knowing just how much truth to tell in each situation to have things work out the most benefitial to him.

This movie was a delight to watch. It had fast paced, witty dialog, with lots of humorous moments all over the place. It also had a fair amount of truth to it. This could be an instructional movie about how to reframe discussions to be on your terms, terms that are of course more favorable to your position. Nick teaches his 12 year old son some of his tricks, which gives the movie an excuse to have him explain his craft to the audience.

I had a great time watching this movie, and have no doubts that I'll watch it many more times.

Note: The one significant flaw I noticed is that Nick would be smarter than that when dealing with the reporter, but that's ok. It makes for interesting parts of the story, and in a comedy characters can get away with doing out of character things for the sake of the story. There's also a great continuity flaw when two MOD squad members are sharing a piece of apple pie with a slice of cheese on top - one mauls it trying to take a bite and then in the next shot it's nicely put back together (only us true movie nerds spot stuff like that...)

Still want more?
Read the Archives!