Thank You For Smoking Jack O. (Tatsumaru) Thank You For Smoking is a satirical comedy film about a lobbyist working for the tobacco industry who is almost universally hated. Along with his only real friends, the lobbyists for the alcohol and firearms industries he loves his role of defending what at first might seem like the inexcusable actions of his employers. All three are highly immoral characters but despite this their wit and genuine enjoyment of their jobs actually makes them quite likeable and at no time did I personally find myself wanting to side against them. This is perhaps the greatest success of the film and of course the point of it; although we know these characters are working for industries which continue to cause irreperable damage to our society (numerous times satistics are quoted in the film about smoking or alcohol related deaths) we still empathise with them. Nick, the main character, is particularly well played by Aaron Eckhart and his continuing desire to remain a part of his son's life gives a very human aspect to what might otherwise not have been such a likeable character. I found the film consistently funny and intelligent, not only in the dialogue but also in the bizarre situations that Nick finds himself in. At one point he is defending the tobacco industry on a chat show whilst looking a teenager with cancer as a direct result of smoking in the eye, and yet somehow he manages to win over the crowd and even the boy. Of course Nick eventually runs into problems of his own, meeting his match in Katie Holmes' journalist but the film comes to a satisfactory conclusion and wraps up all the loose ends. Overall I found this film to be a refreshing dose of satire at the cinema in the face of new releases such as the new Fast and the Furious and UltraViolet and it certainly made me laugh. If you're looking for an intelligent, witty and interesting film i'd recommend this one highly. Overall score - 3.5/4 stars. Personal Fanboydom - 5/10 (I usually enjoy this genre but i'm not a particular fan of any of the main actors etc)
