Witty Thank You For Smoking Encourages Viewers to Think

I hate cigarettes. I'm not going to apologize for it or feel badly that my city plans to enact a smoking ban soon. Those insidious little fire sticks have wreaked enough havoc just within my own personal experience that I want absolutely nothing to do with them and applaud any measures that keep them away from me. So you mightn't think I'd be too enthused about a film depicting one man's valiant struggle to keep cigarettes relevant and even glamorous in an era marked by increased awareness of the risks they pose to good health. But I know a satire when I see it, and I don't believe for a second that Thank You For Smoking is encouraging all its viewers to run out and light up. And even if it was, I think I still would be entertained.

Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is a man working hard to be both a good father and an effective representative for the tobacco industry. Neither task is easy, but the latter is especially difficult of late, as we see when an early scene places him under Joan Lunden's critical interrogation in the presence of a teen dying as a result of smoking. Later, he tries to convince his son's (Cameron Bright) classmates that he's in the right, but it seems the "smoking is bad" message has been hammered into their heads enough that they're not buying it. Worse, he must suffer the advice of his ex-wife's new squeeze (Daniel Travis), and judging by the animosity in his response, Nick really does not need that kind of condescension.

One person who really does appreciate him is good ol' boy Doak Boykin (Robert Duvall), a mentor of sorts who possesses a curious mix of paternal affection and eccentric delusion. He's probably my favorite character, and I wish he'd gotten a few more scenes. Also highly entertaining is Nick's nemesis, Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre (William H. Macy), a squeaky clean Ned Flanders type who engages Nick in a fierce debate, determined to bring the tobacco industry down, one warning label at a time. When Nick counters that unhealthy eating habits lead to heart disease, rendering cheese just as inherently dangerous as cigarettes, the senator indignantly delivers what is arguably the funniest line in the movie: "The great state of Vermont will not apologize for its cheese!"

Nor should writer-director Jason Reitman apologize for this film, whose comedy may be a bit dry and whose delivery may be a bit profane for my tastes but which manages to garner plenty of laughs and provoke some intriguing thoughts nonetheless. I found it amusing; my brother, riotous. Peppered with a wide array of quirky characters beyond the few I've mentioned, I recommend it to those with a slightly twisted sense of humor and a hearty taste for irony. Just as long as they don't have the movie to thank for convincing them to give cigarettes a whirl...