Nick Naylor doesn't hide the truth... he filters it.
The hero of Thank you for smoking is Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, who makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today's neo-puritanical culture. Confronted by health zealots out to ban tobacco and an opportunistic senator (William H Macy) who wants to put poison labels on cigarette packs, Nick goes on a PR offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes on TV talk shows and enlisting a Hollywood super-agent (Rob Lowe) to promote smoking in movies. Nick's new-found notoriety attracts the attention of both tobacco's head honcho (Robert Duvall) and an investigative reporter for an influential Washington daily (Katie Holmes). Nick says he is just doing what it takes to pay the mortgage, but he begins to think about how his work makes him look in the eyes of his young son Joey (Cameron Bright).
Special Agent Matti
Like they say, we all know that smoking is bad for us. Thank you for smoking is a witty film about the humorous side of spin-doctoring as might have been written by the people who make The West Wing. There's nothing new in this movie but it's a reasonably mature way to pass 1½ hours.
M (Moderate coarse language, moderate sexual references, moderate sex scene)
92 minutes (1:32 hours)
Film: 31 August 2006
