Hate the spin, not the spinner

By Sam Smyth
Gargoyle senior editor
Posted Wednesday, April 19, 2006, The OG, arts

[Note: “Thank You For Smoking” is currently playing at the Savoy 16 and the Beverly Cinema 18.]

You know a movie is effective when you pity a character you would despise in any other circumstance, in this case a lobbyist for Big Tobacco named Nick Naylor, played by Aaron Eckhart.

The comedy “Thank You For Smoking” could easily have been a boring or untactful look at how evil corporations such as Big Tobacco con and spin consumers, but just as Nick Naylor wins over audiences on talk shows, he wins over you.

Nick joins the self-titled M.O.D. squad (Merchants of Death), two other spokespeople for guns and alcohol, for lunch every week. They discuss the latest tactics by the media and politicians against their industries and how to combat them.

Through the course of the movie we learn Nick's philosophy of argument: If the other person is wrong, youre right. He often discusses anything but cigarettes when facing a naysayer.

He passes this philosophy on to his young son, who employs the methods to convince his mother to allow him to accompany his father on a trip to Hollywood. Nick wants to take cigarettes in movies to the final frontier: space.

Of course, Nick faces a number of troubles, and his motives for doing his job aren't entirely clear and his justifications are less than satisfactory (something you push to the back of your mind so as to empathize with him). He struggles to do his job and remain a role model for his son, and as he says himself, being despised comes with the work.

The jokes are constant throughout, often thrown in at the most unexpected moments, and fall on all parts of the political spectrum. It doesn't matter where you stand; you find yourself laughing heartily at them all.

The cast features a host of recognizable but often underappreciated actors who really give the movie its flare, including a short appearance by Adam Brody of “The OC.”

The satirical humor often becomes crude, which may not appeal to some audience members as much as it did for this adolescent, but the delivery by the actors is spot on.

My only complaint would be that the film seemed to lose a little steam near the end, and there is no real cinematic reason to see it in theaters other than the long wait C-U filmgoers had to endure until its release here. Otherwise, I laughed harder at this movie than anything in a long time.

Stars: 3.5/4