Underrated Films - Thank You for Smoking

 

Thank You for Smoking is a 2005 satirical black comedy film, based on Christopher Buckley's 1994 novel of the same name. The film was produced by Room 9 Entertainment and ContentFilm and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Thank You for Smoking was written and directed by Jason Reitman.

The story is big tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor is trying to do he's job of making sure his company isn't as evil as people say it is, while at the same time wants to be a good role model for his son. Things get even more complicated with both a senator who's heavily pushing his anti-cigarette campaign and Nick accidently revealing this about his industry. Now he has to find a way out this jam, before his life is completely ruined.

Why It's Underrated

The main reason why it's underrated is because it's not getting enough love. Unlike channels like say Starz, I haven't seen this movie appear any where else. I can't even remember the last time I saw it in a video store, and I'm pretty sure the film hasn't even come out on Blu-Ray.

My Thoughts

One thing to absolutely love about this movie is the humor. For this film was all about the wit. There's not slapstick, unnecessary gross stuff, or just saying curse words nonstop. It was about how funny the dialogue (and I'll get to that later) could be, and this is one of the few films were the dialogue is the funniest part.

Now since I brought up the dialogue, let's praise it. It's really good. There are so many quotable/funny bits here. Such as "Brad, I'm his *father*. You're the guy f*cking his mom. then there's Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent. And so many other great lines, you really can watch the movie just for the dialogue alone.

Then we have our performances. This cast which filled to the brim with names you've heard does a fantastic job playing these characters. Especially Aaron Eckhart. He did such an amazing job playing this smooth talking businessman, and I just couldn't get enough. Such a shame, he's kind of an underrated talent.

There's a reason behind this next point but I'll bring it up later. What also made this movie worth checking out is it actually pulls off making you root for big tobacco. Yes, the people who sell you cigarettes, you're gonna be rooting for them. That's actually quite a hard feat to pull off. But Jason Reitman made it work.

So going off from the previous aspect I just mentioned, why did that work? Why do we feel sympathy for them? It's simply really, the movie provides you some really touching/emotional moments with our characters. Because Nick is giving a pretty tough problem to deal. He still wants to do his job for the company he works with, but at the same time he has to worry about being a good role model for his son. So because of this aspect to Nick's character you just can't help but love him.

Thank You for Smoking is one of my many favorite comedy films. It has good wit, the dialogue is awesome, the performances (mainly Eckhart) are great, you actually feel sympathy for the tobacco tycoons, and there's a lot of great emotional moments played out throughout the entire movie.

My final rating is A Must Watch.

So yeah, if you haven't already give this movie a watch. For now, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Jan 15th for my review of Scream. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.