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| | Location: Home » Business » General » Thank You for Smoking (Widescreen Edition) | January 8, 2009 |
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| Thank You for Smoking (Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Jason Reitman
Actors: Joan Lunden, Eric Haberman, Aaron Eckhart, Mary Jo Smith, Todd Louiso
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $2.38
You Save: $17.60 (88%)
Buy New/Used from $2.38
Avg. Customer Rating:  (175 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3589
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 91 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.8
MPN: FOXD2235511D
UPC: 024543255048
EAN: 0024543255048
ASIN: B000H0MKOC
Release Date: October 3, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: April 14, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Description
WARNING: Thank You For Smoking "just might make you laugh your head off!" (MAXIM). Aaron Eckhart stars as Nick Naylor, a sexy, charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator (William H. Macy) bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test. As Nick says, "If you want an easy job, go work for the Red Cross."
Amazon.com
As the saying goes, Aaron Eckhart was born to play Nick Naylor, the 30-something "voice of Big Tobacco" in this brazen satire of corporate profits and what lobbyists will do to protect them. Right from the opening, Eckhart is in spin mode, turning the tables on a popular talk show when he states health officials want a young teen stricken by cancer to die more than big tobacco does, since the boy would be a martyr to them, but only a single lost customer to the industry. Audiences gasp, panelists guffaw, and the kid happily shakes Nick's hand. The Academy of Tobacco Studies has a colorful array of folks surrounding Nick, including his cantankerous boss (J.K. Simmons) and the Colonel (Robert Duvall), tobacco's undisputed leader. His closet friends are lobbyists for guns (David Koechner) and alcohol (Maria Bello) who discuss their odd businesses over regular lunches, but when a cutie-pie reporter (Katie Holmes) swings into Nick's life, things begin to unravel. Based on Christopher Buckley's even more outlandish novel, IThank You for Smoking/I is a bright light for the filmgoer tired of gutless films formulated by committee, and first-time filmmaker Jason Reitman has expertly cast the film, which includes deft turns by William H. Macy and Sam Elliot. Nick's son, a throwaway in the novel, becomes a major influence here in Nick's development and a key student of Naylorisms such as, "If you argue correctly, then you're never wrong," though a father and son trip to Hollywood to visit an uber agent (Rob Lowe at his most suave) demonstrates how the inclusion of the son both helps and hurts the film. Book fans will miss the wicked plot turn, but the final result is a sharp and smart comedy deserving of a long, savory drag. I--Doug Thomas/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 170 more reviews...
 Hypocritical December 26, 2008
Clever tale of libertarianism from Peter Thiel, the PayPal guy. In the story, our hero Aaron Eckhart lives a lie so that he can pay his mortgage, he goes through a series of challenges, and comes out on top the way you'd see in any Tom Cruise movie, the main difference is that this one happens to be starring Aaron Eckhart instead of Mr Couch Jumper. br /br /Sure, it seems to be a thinking man's movie, but why would a movie about smoking not show anybody smoking? Why would a movie about the right of the tabacco industry to exist suppress smoking in it? Why would a movie that shows the main character going to Hollywood to convince studio executives to feature its stars lighting up, but then not have its star light up? Somehow the film, while enjoyable, is not clever enough to answer any of these questions. Rob Lowe is good as a serene Hollywood guru-type, but William H. Macy horribly typecast as a snivelling senator who is exposed with ridiculous ease as a hypocrite.
Black Lung Comedy November 29, 2008
"Thank You For Smoking" is a movie about suckers. Suckers who are willing to forgo every piece of information available as long as they have one person telling them what they want to believe is right, as long as it's what they want to hear. Into this void steps Nick Naylor (Adam Eckhart), a lobbyist for Big Tobacco, whose job is convincing everyone to take a rolled up tube of paper stuffed with carcinogens, set it on fire and suck the fumes into your body because you have the right to do so. Naylor is the best in the biz, making everyone around him take pratfalls while he tries to be a good dad to his precocious son (unfortunately a cliched part, played up by Cameron Bright).br /br /While predominantly a satire on spin and the gullibility of consumers, "Thank You For Smoking" often misses the bulls-eye for the very thing its premise is based on: SPIN. No-one in the movie smokes. Even the wizened old Patriarch of the firm (played great by Robert Duvall) never lights one up, even as he tells everyone about his great discoveries. Naylor is momentarily seen fidgeting with an empty pack, but that's as close as it gets. It gets difficult to believe the bleating about being too PC when everyone in the film as politically correct as they can be. Even Katie Holmes, as a sleazy journalist, gets one-upped by the ever cunning Naylor.br /br /This is a deep and darkly funny film, but it just doesn't go far enough. The best film in this genre, the Political Satire Wag the Dog, both hit the funny bone and slugged your gut, while TYFS pulls the final punches after about 2/3's of the way in by taking away Naylor's smarminess and turning him into a Disney Dad. Satire can be outrageous, but there also has to be an endgame. The feel-good ending here seems tacked on rather than thought through. It was fun watching Nick spar with the hapless Senator (William H. Macy, delightful as always), but had his name been something less convoluted than Ortolan Finistirre, it might have been less of an obvious ploy. (Ooo look! All American Lobbyist takes on nerdy Gov-Wonk with dopey name!)br /br /"Thank You For Smoking" wussed out when it really could've taken the Spin-Zone to task. Otherwise, it might have been the dark comedy it wanted to be. By trying to have it both ways, however, it simply goes up in smoke.
 Laugh and Think November 2, 2008
If you are a smoker watch the film and think,br /If you are a non-smoker watch the film and feel as happy as you can and laughbr /If your child is a teenager let her watch the film, nothing that the adults tell is enough to give this impression about smoking. br /I think this may be a popular film that is watched at school hours. br /The terrible results of smoking and how they have been hidden for decades is presented in a very ironic way.br /I hope many people watch this film.
 Bland, dull edged satire October 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This has been described as a "razor sharp" satire. It isn't. The main character is a tobacco company lobbyist who defends tobacco interests. The problem here is that we knew that these guys were weasels over forty years ago - this is hardly cutting edge material. Many, many obvious jabs at this type are made. This film will only be an eye opener to someone who has been in a coma for the last few decades. The ending, where the lead character feels some moral responsibility toward his son is phony. The movie spends most of its running time showing us how utterly amoral the character is. Are we really supposed to believe that he suddenly feels remorse because of his son? More likely (and I know this type), he would keep his son in the dark about the true nature of his work. Katie Holmes looks horrible here. She can't act, has bad skin, and seems badly miscast as the "hot" reporter who seduces the handsome Eckhart (you would think that the gorgeous Eckhart would have women lined up but he seems so desperate that he has to settle for the odd looking Holmes).
Like watching a shark eat a school of hapless fish October 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
'Thank You For Smoking' is a satire/comedy of the industry of Big Tobacco. Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the Vice President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies, and calls himself the Colonel Sanders of Nicotine. He's divorced, but stays very involved in Joey's (his twelve year old son) life. Joey (Cameron Bright - Running Scared, The Butterfly Effect) looks up to his father, often seeing him in a Godlike way.br /br /Nick belongs to what they call the MOD Squad (Merchants Of Death). He and his two friends, Polly Bailey (Maria Bello - Secret Window) who works for the Moderation Council and is an alcoholic, and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) who works for SAFETY (The Society for the Advancement of Firearms and Effective Training for Youth), meet for lunch one a week and discuss the deaths related to their current jobs.br /br /The movie begins with Nick appearing on the Joan Lunden show, against anti-tobacco groups and a young boy suffering from tobacco related cancer. Nick, the best of the spin-artists, walks away smelling like a rose. On his case over his defense of Big Tobacco is Senator Ortolan Finistirre (William H. Macy), who leads a sub-committee dedicated to labeling cigarettes with the skull and crossbones poison symbol. br /br /Nick, while waiting for the sub-committee hearing, travels to see The Captain (Robert Duvall), head of the tobacco company and founder of Nick's employer. Nick's boss stole his idea to use Hollywood to promote tobacco (by getting stars to smoke on screen) and the Captain wants Nick to fly to California to get the ball rolling. Taking Joey along, Nick meets with Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe), a Hollywood super agent who heads up EGO (Entertainment Global Offices). (Jeff and the whole Hollywood scene is so over-the-top "typical" that it's hilarious) Jeff and Nick agree on 25 Million dollars to get Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones to smoke on screen after a futuristic $ex scene. (unbelievable!) While in California, he takes a huge money payoff to the original Marlboro Man Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott) who's now dying of lung cancer. He also appears on the Dennis Miller show against Senator Finistirre, and receives a death threat from a caller.br /br /Nick comments on his life as being the most hated person on Earth. It's pretty much true. He's kidnapped, stripped, covered in nicotine patches and left at the Lincoln statue. He almost dies and can never smoke again because of the overdose, but spins it into how cigarettes saved his life because a non-smoker would have died. The reporter he's dating, Heather, takes all their private pillow talks and publishes an extremely derogatory article about him. (You'll have to watch the movie to see how he pays her back) Nick has to balance his life between his moral-less job and being a father to his son. The things he teaches Joey aren't right or wrong but how to win, an approach Joey's mother disapproves of.br /br /Whether you're a non-smoker or even a smoker, the actions of the Big Tobacco will make you red with fury. Eckhart plays a good role as Nick, totally unconcerned with his job as lobbyist for a known killer. (as expressed in the meetings of the MOD Squad) Though not based on a true story or even real statistical facts, the casual way Big Tobacco treats their "customer's" lives rings true. Adding in Polly and Bobby Ray as advocates of alcohol and firearms holds a certain irony to the film. Though the movie has a good premise (as far as satire goes) and an excellent cast who all perform well, it never quite advances itself into either comedy or drama. The pace is a little to slow, and the debates not long enough or heated enough. It's interesting enough if you want to watch a benignly evil man do his effort to spread poison, but not worthy of a purchase. Rent first. Enjoy!br /
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