We don't sell Tic Tacs, we sell cigarettes. And they're cool, available, and *addictive*. The job is almost done for us.
~ Budd 'BR' Rohrabacher

Just watched Thank You for Smoking, starring Aaron Eckhart as Tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor. Director and screenwriter Jason Reitman adapted the film from Christopher Buckley's novel of the same name.

Fantastic satire, which means they found a motherload of humor by exposing uncomfortable truths. Truths about spin and the people who earn their lives producing spin. Oddly, I wouldn't call it a cynical film, except in how it treats anti-smoking Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre (played by William H. Macy). But even those mocking scenes served a purpose....

And what a play of irony that the villian of this film is an anti-smoking senator and the hero a tobacco lobbyist. Brilliant. Great writing--I mean GREAT writing--wonderful cinematography (thanks Jim Whitaker).

Aaron Eckhart's delivery is perfect. He carries this film, and does so with ease.

Other than archive footage, I did not see one person smoke in this film.

Best Lines - Favorite Quotes

Nick Naylor: My point is that you have to think for yourself. If your parents told you that chocolate was dangerous would you take their word for it?
[Children say no]
Nick Naylor: Exactly! So perhaps instead of acting like sheep when it comes to cigarettes you should find out for yourself.

Nick Naylor: You know the guy who can pick up any girl? I'm him. On crack.

Jeff Megall: [Talking to Nick on the phone, late at night] Gotta go. London. It's 7 AM in the Old Empire.
Nick Naylor: When do you sleep?
Jeff Megall: [pause] Sunday.

Nick Naylor: My job requires a certain... moral flexibility.

Nick Naylor: [out loud] "I just need to pay the mortgage."
Nick Naylor: [to self] The Yuppie Nuremburg defense.

Jeff Megall: Sony has a futuristic sci-fi movie they're looking to make.
Nick Naylor: Cigarettes in space?
Jeff Megall: It's the final frontier, Nick.
Nick Naylor: But wouldn't they blow up in an all oxygen environment?
Jeff Megall: Probably. But it's an easy fix. One line of dialogue. 'Thank God we invented the... you know, whatever device.'

Nick Naylor: The message Hollywood needs to send out is 'Smoking Is Cool!'

Thank You for Smoking Cast

(Partial list)

Aaron Eckhart - Nick Naylor
William H. Macy - Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre
Robert Duvall - Doak 'The Captain' Boykin
Katie Holmes - Heather Holloway
J.K. Simmons - Budd 'BR' Rohrabacher
Kim Dickens - Jill Naylor
Sam Elliott - Lorne Lutch
Cameron Bright - Joey Naylor
Maria Bello - Polly Bailey
David Koechner - Bobby Jay Bliss
Rob Lowe - Jeff Megall
Adam Brody - Jack

Interesting Links

Thank You for Smoking: A Novel
Thank You for Smoking [DVD]