Thank You for Smoking (film)

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This article is about the film. For the novel, see Thank You for Smoking (novel).
Thank You for Smoking

Poster for Thank You for Smoking
Directed by Jason Reitman
Produced by Max Levchin
Elon Musk
Edward R. Pressman
David O. Sacks
John Schmidt
Peter A. Thiel
Written by Jason Reitman
Starring Aaron Eckhart
Maria Bello
Cameron Bright
Adam Brody
Sam Elliott
J.K. Simmons
Katie Holmes
Music by Rolfe Kent
Cinematography James J. Whitaker
Editing by Dana E. Glauberman
Distributed by Fox Searchlight
Release date(s) March 17, 2006
Running time 92 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $7 million
Gross revenue $39 million+
Official website
IMDb profile

Thank You for Smoking is a 2006, Golden Globe Award-nominated film satire directed by Jason Reitman and produced by David O. Sacks. It is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Buckley. The title is based on the popular saying "Thank You for Not Smoking," and the cover of the DVD case is modeled on the Lucky Strike cigarette box.

The film was released in a limited run on March 17, 2006, and had a wide release on April 14. As of 2007, the film has grossed a total of more than US$ 39 million worldwide.[1] On November 24, 2006, NBC announced that it is developing a television pilot based on the film.[2] The film was released on DVD in the US on October 3, 2006, and in the UK on January 8, 2007.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the Vice President of and the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, a tobacco lobby whose stated purpose is to research the links between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer. Unsurprisingly, the group, funded by cigarette companies, does not find any link between the two. Nick's job requires him to inform the public of these results, as well as defend the rights of smokers. The film follows his career as a talking head for Big Tobacco, appearing in both public speaking engagements and on television programs. Each week, Nick meets with Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner), lobbyists for the alcohol and firearms industries respectively, for lunch and mutual support. The three jokingly refer to themselves as "the M.O.D. Squad" (alluding to both the phrase "Merchants Of Death" and the television show The Mod Squad). Faced with a bill to add a skull and crossbones to all cigarette packaging, Nick proposes an idea to his boss, BR (J.K. Simmons) to get actors in films to start smoking on screen again as in the 1920s and 1930s, and thus "put the sex back in cigarettes". BR sends him to Hollywood to meet with superagent Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe) and arrange product placement. Nick elects to bring his son, Joey (Cameron Bright), on the sudden conviction that they do not spend enough time together since Joey's mother gained custody. As Joey asks about the details of Nick's job during the trip, they bond as Nick teaches him the art of spin.

Nick also plans to appear before the U.S. Senate to fight the packaging bill, as well as Senator Finisterre (William H. Macy), the primary supporter of the bill as well as a long time critic of cigarettes. During an appearance on Dennis Miller's talk show to debate the issue with Finisterre, a caller threatens to kill Nick. After refusing BR's suggestion for him to hire bodyguards, Nick is soon kidnapped, and transdermal nicotine patches are placed all over his skin, sending high doses of nicotine into his blood stream, triggering a toxic response (nicotine poisoning) and nearly killing him. Luckily, he is found alive, and in a twist of irony, it was his smoking habit and resulting tolerance of nicotine which (as his doctor put it) "saved his life"; however, he can never smoke again because of resultant hypersensitivity to the drug.

In the midst of all of this, Nick has secretly begun having sex with an attractive reporter named Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes), revealing many secrets to her during their love making, assuming it was off-the-record. She was preparing a piece about him, promising to be fair to both sides of the issue. She then publishes an article that paints Nick as a heartless monster, including Nick's dealings with the M.O.D. Squad, bribery of cancer-stricken Marlboro Man Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott), (which is a probable nod to Wayne McLaren), supposed training of Joey to follow in his footsteps, and the behind-the-scenes plan to increase cigarettes in film. When Nick confronts Heather over the phone, she condescendingly states that she's like him by just working a job to pay the mortgage. Deciding that the article has either removed or completely reversed any sympathy of the public towards Nick after his kidnapping, BR decides that the Academy should distance itself from Nick and fires him. After Nick initially becomes depressed, Joey reminds him of why he does his job: to defend "defenseless" corporations such as seal clubbers and land mine makers.

Speaking to the press, Nick promises to clear the names of those linked to him by the article, and reveals his affair with Holloway, effectively ruining her career, as she watches him live on TV at work with her surprised coworkers. He also reveals his intention to still testify before the Senate in hopes of stopping the bill from passing. Nick ends up performing so well at the Senate hearing that BR asks him to return to the Academy. As a reporter asks Nick if he will continue to work with the Academy, however, he fully realizes BR's motives for firing and hiring him and decides not to return as an example to his son, completely catching BR off guard before the press. The film ends with a review of the lives of those affected by the entire situation: BR is out of work for the first time in years after the Academy is dismantled, Heather is reduced to working as a weather reporter for a small TV station, Senator Finisterre is still working on his anti-cigarette campaign by digitally removing cigarettes from classic films, and the M.O.D. Squad is still meeting weekly — with new lobbyists from the oil, fast food and hazardous waste industries being invited to the luncheon. Joey wins a school debate, and Nick begins a public relations training firm (which is seen taking on the public image of cell phones).

[edit] Cast

*Indicates characters not featured in the novel.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Weekend Box Office. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-07.
  2. ^ NBC Gets in 'Smoking' Habit. Zap2It.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
The satirical works by Christopher Buckley
Novels:
The White House Mess · Thank You for Smoking · God Is My Broker (with John Tierney) · Little Green Men · No Way to Treat a First Lady · Florence of Arabia · Boomsday
Film adaptations:
Thank You for Smoking (2006) · Little Green Men (unreleased)