Thank You For Smoking didn’t make me laugh out loud while I was watching it. But looking back, there were so many great touches of humour in this unlikely tale of a lobbyist for Big Tobacco – William H. Macy’s twitching, bouncing, Birkenstocked feet, Rob Lowe’s fantastic turn as a Hollywood mover and shaker, Aaron Eckhart’s friendly, Mr. Rogers earnestness as he explains to a small girl that her mother isn’t really qualified to say whether cigarettes are bad or not, now is she? (“Is your mommy a doctor?”) And the whole concept of the “M.o.D. Squad” — three lobbyists representing alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, who meet once a week and refer to themselves as the Merchants of Death — is pure genius.
Still, through most of the movie I held back my approval, worried that it would let me down. Worried that Eckhart’s cheery, shiny lobbyist would have a sudden conversion, teach his little boy that smoking was bad after all, and that people shouldn’t lie and spin for a living. It seems it’s been so long since I’ve seen a movie that didn’t come with a “happy ending” that I’ve forgotten they exist.
So, thank you, Thank You For Smoking. Thank you.
by Eva Holland | Source: Fox DVD
12 Jan 2008 9:06 PM | Comments (2)
The funny thing is, on the DVD, you can see an alternate “happy ending” that contains pretty much everything you described. Thank God Jason Reitman had the sense to recut it.
Also, I saw this on my college campus and it was a laugh riot. The line that got the biggest laugh was…
Polly: When did you fuck her? Bobby Jay: In passing.
Wow. I watched a shady burned version, so I had no idea about the alternate ending. Thank God, indeed.
Devin
13 January 2008
12:23 AM
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