donkathon
08-30-2006, 06:43 PM
I whipped this up for the city's newspaper Teen Screens section. They didnt take it, so I figure I put it here to pick up advice. Note I wrote this a few weeks ago, not when it came out half a year ago.
Lo and behold, a film that will have you rooting for the promotion of cigarettes! Sound bizarre? Thank You for Smoking could very well be one of the most out-of-the-ordinary comedies of 2006.
Within the first few minutes of this runaway Sundance hit, you are introduced to Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), a representative for Big Tobacco Company. All throughout this adaptation of Christopher Buckley’s novel, Nick’s career is to belittle anti-tobacco groups, and plot ways to make cigarettes more appealing to America’s youth. Yes, you read right - the leading role is, in fact, encouraging the use of a product that kills twelve hundred people a day. The entire film strives on this, as Eckhart’s acting convinces the audience that his character is a better person than he seems.
The opposing role of Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre is played by William H. Macy, in what I believe is one of his greatest roles. The Vermont Senator takes part in a nationwide attempt to outlaw cigarettes, and personally targets Big Tobacco.
Writer and director Jason Reitman succeeds in telling the story with a steady-paced approach. The movie is packed with a plethora of dark, twisted jokes that are wrapped around the tobacco activist’s humorous debates. In the event of a boy with lung cancer, Nick responds to a question concerning the boy’s life with, “How would Big Tobacco profit off the loss of this young man? It’s in our best interest to keep Robin alive and smoking.” The majority of the movie uses this perverse comedy, much of which is expressed in the meetings of the M.O.D Squad (Merchants of Death), which is made up of lobbyists for the tobacco, firearms, and alcohol industries. The conversations the three conjure involve daily death toll, which, on any other occasion would be cruel, but instead will get you to laugh out loud.
Conflict arises mid-movie when Nick is seduced by newspaper reporter Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes.) Meanwhile, he tries to avert his son from getting the wrong idea of his dad’s career philosophies. All the while, he is expected to keep a friendship with a tobacco big-wig, as well as deliver a company-appointment endorsement to a retired Marlboro advertiser, dying of cancer, to cease his speaking out against cigarettes. In the meantime, he is being ridiculed by Senator Finistirre, who is under loads of pressure himself.
The wording of Reitman’s movie is top-notch, and has some unexpectedly impressive acting. The music is just as remarkable. Upbeat and swiftly paced, the soundtrack features a light-hearted score from Rolfe Kent, composer from Sideways and About Schmidt, along with songs from Tex Williams and The Kingston Trio.
Expect surprises, action, a kidnapping by extremist health-zealots, and a witty Washington debate between Nick and Senator Finistirre in this satire-spangled comedy that will have you rooting for both sides of the tobacco debate that lives on today.
Lo and behold, a film that will have you rooting for the promotion of cigarettes! Sound bizarre? Thank You for Smoking could very well be one of the most out-of-the-ordinary comedies of 2006.
Within the first few minutes of this runaway Sundance hit, you are introduced to Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), a representative for Big Tobacco Company. All throughout this adaptation of Christopher Buckley’s novel, Nick’s career is to belittle anti-tobacco groups, and plot ways to make cigarettes more appealing to America’s youth. Yes, you read right - the leading role is, in fact, encouraging the use of a product that kills twelve hundred people a day. The entire film strives on this, as Eckhart’s acting convinces the audience that his character is a better person than he seems.
The opposing role of Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre is played by William H. Macy, in what I believe is one of his greatest roles. The Vermont Senator takes part in a nationwide attempt to outlaw cigarettes, and personally targets Big Tobacco.
Writer and director Jason Reitman succeeds in telling the story with a steady-paced approach. The movie is packed with a plethora of dark, twisted jokes that are wrapped around the tobacco activist’s humorous debates. In the event of a boy with lung cancer, Nick responds to a question concerning the boy’s life with, “How would Big Tobacco profit off the loss of this young man? It’s in our best interest to keep Robin alive and smoking.” The majority of the movie uses this perverse comedy, much of which is expressed in the meetings of the M.O.D Squad (Merchants of Death), which is made up of lobbyists for the tobacco, firearms, and alcohol industries. The conversations the three conjure involve daily death toll, which, on any other occasion would be cruel, but instead will get you to laugh out loud.
Conflict arises mid-movie when Nick is seduced by newspaper reporter Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes.) Meanwhile, he tries to avert his son from getting the wrong idea of his dad’s career philosophies. All the while, he is expected to keep a friendship with a tobacco big-wig, as well as deliver a company-appointment endorsement to a retired Marlboro advertiser, dying of cancer, to cease his speaking out against cigarettes. In the meantime, he is being ridiculed by Senator Finistirre, who is under loads of pressure himself.
The wording of Reitman’s movie is top-notch, and has some unexpectedly impressive acting. The music is just as remarkable. Upbeat and swiftly paced, the soundtrack features a light-hearted score from Rolfe Kent, composer from Sideways and About Schmidt, along with songs from Tex Williams and The Kingston Trio.
Expect surprises, action, a kidnapping by extremist health-zealots, and a witty Washington debate between Nick and Senator Finistirre in this satire-spangled comedy that will have you rooting for both sides of the tobacco debate that lives on today.