| F E A T U R E S T H O U G H T S R E V I E W S N E W S e v e n t s d i r e c t o r y | |
By Dawn Januszkewicz This movie portrays the life and corruptions of one of tobacco's leading lobbyists, in all of his self-inflated glory. The movie opens with a monolog from Nick Naylor, the lobbyist, profiling himself as an expert in manipulating any given situation for the desired outcome and a lady's man to boot. He succeeds at this but only because his formidable opponents choke on their greed or shock in response to his enthusiasm for smoking. When a movie opens with a monologue it usually marks the beginning of the end. But in this case Thank You For Smoking is quite entertaining, shocking, sad and funny. There are a few points where the suspension of disbelief is sacrificed for a chuckle, but aside from that there are a lot of good laughs to be had. The mod squad or merchants of death for example, include the tobacco lobbyists, two friends from the alcohol and firearm industries. They meet over drinks and discuss the mortality rates caused by their businesses. All three are obvious stereotypes, alcoholic, soulless smoker, and redneck gun fanatic. None of them really take responsibility for their actions, but that's not what Thank You For Smoking is all about. Thank You For Smoking is not about what evils the tobacco industry has committed, we are well aware of their history, it instead chronicles the reasoning of its PR people. "You don't have to prove you're right if you've proved the other guy wrong." Nick educated his son during a debate over which flavor ice cream is better. And vanilla doesn't even come close Nick, why, because chocolate actually stimulates a physiological reaction in your brain that simulates the sensation of intimacy, and it tastes much better! This parade of stereotypes is on a never-ending quest for fame fortuntion and self-righteousness. To be honest, it is pretty entertaining until of course we reach the end of the movie and all the good guys are punished and our now vindicated Nick Naylor, who would have seemed more appropriate in a cape and tights, has the ultimate happy ending. |
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| c o n t a c t s / c r e d i t s c o n t r i b u t e |
