[Patrick Sun]

I found this to be a witty, satirical and engaging film about a tobacco lobbyist who is very good at his job. Aaron Eckhardt plays Nick Naylor, mouthpiece of big tobacco in a roundabout way. Plenty of laughs and plenty of reflection of personal consumption vices (of things we know are bad for us, but we still indulge in them anyway).

Nick also balances his lobbying activist side with trying to raise a son after a divorce, and is shuttled between mom and dad per their parental custody settlement. The son, played by the new Haley Joel Osment of this decade, Cameron Bright, is actually not all that annoying (or cloyingly mysterious) and does his best to listen to what his father shows him in presenting the "facts" to also get his way when dealing with his mom and school.

The film is lean and mean and runs with a really good pace that never bores the audience and just rolls along effortlessly to its satisfying conclusion.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "Thank You for Smoking". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

[mattCR]

Watched tonight and laughed often. There is one particular moment

Spoiler:

Where Katie Holmes is outted for how she received information on the MOD Squad

That is so damn priceless it's worth the cost of admission. This is a fun, biting film that really sticks to it's guns all the way through.

Forget the other blah blah comedies in the theater, this is a real winner.

1/2 of

Oh yeah: pay attention to the name of the High School. And what's written on most of the posters. The background jabs keep coming fast and furious.

[Quentin]

I thought it was ok. I laughed a little. The problem for me was that it is a little dated...I think Simpsons and Futurama and other shows have gone over a lot of this already. Also, it tried to have a real message as well. If you're doing satire - just stick to the funny.

I thought Rob Lowe and pretty much the entire take on Hollywood was the best. They nailed it.

[DaveF]

I saw "Thank you for Smoking" last night, and it's the best comedy I've seen in years. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The satire was smart, and relevant to current social issues. I recommend it.

[JediFonger]

i don't think it's "current" as in 2006, but if current includes a decade ago... i'll buy that.

i saw it last night@an el cheapo 2nd run cinema. it was pretty subversive and funny, somn chuck palahniuk would've written and fincher would've directed... hey waitta second, it's similar to fight club and many palahniuk novels.

Spoiler:

i loved how at the end more groups joined the mod squad and the food group is led by an overweight guy, lol =).

definitely somn i plan to own on SD-DVD even if it comes out HD-DVD.

fight club is my fav. film of the 90's and this certainly is pretty good.

PS is this the 2nd time aaron eckhart has played a slick talking guy (aka a-hole?) after in good company? has he done other ahole roles? hopefully he doesn't get stuck doing it but he's so good at it.

[Tim Glover]

I have really seen some great movies lately. Rented Thank You For Smoking tonight.

Loved it. Witty, clever, and all of that with some heart.

The acting was superb....comic timing was spot on, and the screenplay was tight.

One of the years best.

9.5/10