“Thank You For Smoking” stars Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for the tobacco industry who not only makes a living from downplaying the ill-effects of smoking in public and thinking of ways to encourage people to take up smoking - including a hilarious trip to Hollywood where he seeks the support of a producer, wonderfully played by Rob Lowe, for product placement - but who also relishes his unpopular and challenging role. As he tells his son: “That’s the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong.”
Every week he lunches with the M.O.D. Squad (or Merchants Of Death), two friends from the equally embattled alcohol and gun lobbies, as they trade war stories and compare death tolls caused by their respective industries. In between, he tries to build a relationship with his son - who is in the custody of Nick’s ex-wife - and a female newspaper reporter who is doing a feature article on him, while ducking and weaving to avoid his enemies and critics.
Thank You For Smoking is an at times very funny, satirical and black-as-tar film, taking shots at today’s image-makers, lawmakers and activist groups, even though it doesn’t always quite hit the bullseye. It does, though, quite effectively raise the interesting question of conflict of interests amongst the powerful, as well as the role of personal responsibility in current-day America. Specifically, as everyone surely knows by now, smoking can increase your chances of living a shorter life. Therefore everyone taking up cigarettes should know the risk they are taking. When he is being more honest, Nick knows and says this, but still plies his trade in spin, thus weakening his best argument. See the film to see how he fares.
