News Staff Reporter
It is difficult to imagine what kind of a person would be the chief spokesperson for a huge tobacco company. “Thank You for Smoking,” a new film from director Jason Reitman, son of “Ghostbusters” director Ivan Reitman, offers an intriguing take on such a person, specifically Nick Naylor, the head spokesman for Big Tobacco and played by Aaron Eckhart of “Paycheck.”
“Smoking” focuses on the day-to-day tasks of Naylor, as he continues to find new ways to increase the popularity of cigarettes. Meeting with a movie executive to get Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones to smoke continuously on screen in the next major movie comprises one of his methods to increase sales. In one of the many hilarious-yet-true scenes, Naylor explains that smoking was more popular in the ‘40’s because all of the movie actors smoked all the time on screen, citing Humphrey Bogart as an example.
The fact that the movie does not contain one single image of a cigarette or anyone smoking one is not coincidental and perhaps illustrates the filmmaker’s opinion of the tobacco industry. Other work-related excursions for Naylor include paying off the old Marlboro Man, recently diagnosed with cancer, from talking negatively about smoking, and meeting with a manipulatively seductive news reporter, played by Katie Holmes.
Despite all of the captivating insight into Naylor’s job, perhaps the most striking aspect of this film is the interaction between Naylor and his ten year old son, Joey. During these scenes, the audience truly learns the answer to the aforementioned question: how can someone truly make the case that people will benefit from buying more cigarettes?
As Nick Naylor explains to his son, his entire job rests on the ability to argue. He claims that if you can prove that your opponent is wrong, then that makes you right. In this way, Nick claims, he can be right even if he is truly wrong. This idea in itself is completely captivating. This film shows through the ingenious means of father-son interactions the immense amount of deceit and trickery necessary for success in the promotion of cigarettes. No other film has so effectively illustrated this essential point.
Another feature that stands out is the superb ensemble cast. Aaron Eckhart, with the difficult task of portraying Naylor, a man who must teach his son a wicked trade in a tender way, harmonizes perfectly with Cameron Bright, who plays the son, Joey.
For die-hard “OC” fans, Adam Brody, who plays Seth, appears in a hilarious role as a talkative assistant to a film executive. “Thank You for Smoking” stands out among most other mainstream movies, with its ability to provide not only a forceful contemporary message but also nonstop entertainment.
