'Thank You for Smoking' is an hilarious satire

Thank You for Smoking (2005)

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, J.K. Simmons, William H. Macy, Cameron Bright, Maria Bello, David Koechner, Sam Elliot, Rob Lowe, Robert Duvall, and Katie Holmes

Director: Jason Reitman

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Follow the adventures of Nick Naylor (Eckhart), chief lobbyist for the tobacco industry, as he advocates for the rights of smokers and tobacco companies while serving as a good role model for his son and hanging out with his best friends Polly (Bello) and Bobby (Koechner), lobbyists for the alcohol industry and gun manufacturers respectively. (Together, they make up the MOD [Merchants of Death] Squad.)

"Thank You for Smoking" is a hilarious satire that skewers American business, politics, pop culture, family life... it touches on just about every aspect of life for the American middle- and upper-middle class.

Aaron Eckhart is the single true star of this film, and he is perfect as the lovable rogue Nick Naylor--the Sultan of Spin who could argue that black is white and make it seem sensible. He is supported by a crisp, well-written script, a tightly edited and well-paced film, and a supported by a group of actors who are perfectly cast in their roles. William H. Macy as the obnoxious crusading US Senator is particularly good, but Rob Lowe as a slimey Hollywood producer, Katie Holmes as a sexpot reporter, and Maria Bello and David Koechner as Nick's best friends--his only friends when he hits a rough spot--also turn in excellent and funny performances.

"Thank for Smoking" is a movie that most thinking adults will watch with a constant smile on their face. The exception would be particularly demented anti-smoking Nazis who will almost certainly be upset by the lack of preaching, annoyed that all the characters are likable, and frustrated by the happy ending for Nick and his pals.

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'He Was a Quiet Man' is a well-done drama

He Was A Quiet Man (2006)
Starring: Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthbert, and William H. Macy
Director: Frank A Cappello
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A deranged office worker (Slater) is going to act on fantasies of murdering his co-workers, he becomes a hero when he shoots another man who was "going postal" at the office. Finally noticed by his boss (Macy), he gets promoted, he becomes the most important person in the life of a pretty co-worker who never noticed him before (Cuthbert)... a violent tragedy has turned his nightmare life into a dream. But is it a dream that can last?


"He Was a Quiet Man" is a film featuring some excellent performances by all its principles--Christian Slater plays another quirky, unbalanced character but he does it in far more restrained a manner than ever before, and he's probably better than he ever has been before--and features a "too good to be true" fantasy story that is made successful and put into perspective by a one of those rarest of things: A twist ending that actually works.

The script is mostly well-written, with an unsual romance story at its core that fits well with the overall quirky nature of the film. However, there are times when it gets redundant and goes overboard with driving home story elements, as if the filmmakers either doubted their own abilities to communicate, or the audience's intelligence and ability to comprehend.





Read more reviews of films with Christian Slater at the Watching the Detectives and Terror Titans blogs.

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