Thank You for Smoking Review
by samseescinema (sammeriam AT comcast DOT net)April 3rd, 2006
Thank You for Smoking
reviewed by Sam Osborn of www.samseescinema.com
rating: 2.5 out of 4
Director: Jason Reitman
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Christopher Buckley
MPAA Classification: R (language and some sexual content)
Last year, Andrew Niccol put out the sly, steely portrait Lord of War. The film followed gun runner Yuri Orlov objectively through his work, sometimes leaving room for splashes of dark comedy and political jibes. The film didn't take a stance on gun running, and only because it didn't have to. The portrait was message enough. We understood the ethics-right and wrong-of gun running and recognized the evils that surrounded it. It worked through the idyllically simple principle of never trying too hard. Enter Thank You for Smoking, debut feature film for Jason Reitman. Thank You for Smoking is a film that tries too hard. Reitman seems to have an opinion about everything. He doesn't just dislike smoking, but wants to point out the hypocrisy in every mode of authority. But often Reitman is tactless, and throws about stabs and pokes and low blows with each of his steps. His point, perhaps, is that behind every authority, no matter how noble a cause, there lies an agenda. Reitman, however, doesn't approach this message smoothly; he attacks it like a deranged hen, often scuttling off into comic fancy and over-indulgent satire. The tact is missing where it should be stockpiled. His film can certainly be funny, but when it needs to count, it clucks.
Our character is Nick Naylor, operated coolly by the windswept-blonde Aaron Eckhart. Reitman cuts away to a non-descipt batting cage as Nick introduces himself: "You know the guy in high school who could pick up any girl?" he taps the bat against his foot and raises the bat, "I'm him on crack." And he's not kidding. For a living, Nick talks. And for most of Thank You for Smoking, we follow Nick around the globe as he sweet talks everyone from nasty girl reporter Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes), to Senator Ortolan Finistirre (Will Macy), to cigarette mogul Doak "The Captain" Boykin (Robert Duvall) into supporting the cigarette conglomerates. He even yaps his way out of a talk show pitting the Lung Association, the Democratic Party, and a boy dying of cancer against him. He's that good. Joining him at lunch every day is the M.O.D. squad, and acronym that stands for Merchants of Death. Along with Nick, there's Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner), the lobbyist of the National Firearms Association and Polly Bailey (Maria Bello), the spokesperson for the alcohol conglomerates. The cast is a loaded weapon, a common happenstance that seems to piggyback films packed with slant politics. But Thank You for Smoking doesn't leave enough room for its veterans. Maria Bello, Robert Duvall, Katie Holmes, Adam Brody, and others appear only long enough to make cameo performances. They're effective in their quick draw appearances, but they're only use is to draw in audiences who would, if not for the actors, otherwise not spend money on a ticket. Aaron Eckhart does well enough to make up for the flash-in-the-pan tactics of the other roles, however. I'm surprised he hasn't broken into superstar status yet, seeming to instead hover in art house film radars. He similarly surprised me last year in the near perfect split-screen romance, Conversations with Other Women, a film that has struggled to find a willing distributor.
Jason Reitman's direction is quick, ripe, and assured, but it's his writing that the film ultimately stumbles on. He's created a character too endeared to the audience. We somehow relate to Nick Naylor, and are continually finding ourselves rooting for him. Reitman paints an ugly picture of the cigarette industry, but is unwilling to incorporate Nick into it. He doesn't let us criminalize Nick, and instead disconnects him completely. Nick is our, all-access entrance into Reitman's world of all-encompassing hypocrisy, but Nick has little to do with it. Lord of War worked its character to be a part of its politics. The controversy stemmed from Yuri Orlov, whereas in Thank You for Smoking, Nick Naylor swerves and dodges the punches Reitman throws. But this is the consequence of Reitman's roundhouse punch at the world. Reitman wants to hit everybody with this film, and probably keeps Nick detached for this very reason. Nick taking a side would force the audience to take a side. Reitman wants instead for us to laugh at everyone. I just came to laugh at cigarettes.
-www.samseescinema.com
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