| Overall Grade: |
A- |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
B+ |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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Brilliant Attack on the Sense of Helplessness
by Jersey Joe (movies profile)
Nov 6, 2007
13
of
13 people found this review helpful
Thank You for Smoking is a funny, biting film that has some heart but more brains.
Aaron Eckhart plays Nick Naylor, an unapologetic lobbyist for big tobacco. In many scenes he is portrayed as a sleazy manipulator. But those are the scenes where he's doing what he gets paid for. There are scenes with his son that feel incredibly real because they are not tear-jerking or overly comedic. The son is not a prop as children so often are in films, he is the second most important charcter in the film. The script gives the charcter the respect a strong supporting performer deserves.
Thank You for Smoking shows us the insanity that exists around a lot of hot button political issues. In that way it is similar to "Citizen Ruth," the film where Laura Dern is an indifferent pawn in the abortion battle.
Nick is always, with the exception of a considerable lapse, the smartest person in the room. He is because he can see through the B.S. that surrounds the issue and can cut to the core of the issue itself.
The film attacks the notion of victimization. Whether it's the tobacco companies feeling victimized by the government or individuals being victimized by cigarettes, the film will have none of it. Nick Naylor makes mistakes in this story, but he lands on his feet because he takes responsibility for those mistakes. |
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