Thank You for Smoking

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Thank You for Smoking ★★½ 2006 (R)

Smooth satire, based on the novel by Christopher Buckley, where no one onscreen is actually shown smoking. But if they wanted to, they have that right, which is what slick tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor (Eckhart) is all about. No surprise that his friends are fellow “Merchants of Death,” alcohol lobbyist Polly Bailey (Bello) and firearms lobbyist Bobby Jay Bliss (Koechner). Divorced Nick would like to be a good guy—he tries hard to be a concerned dad—but the game is just too enticing, even when it means bribing former cowboy icon (think Marlboro Man) Lorne Lutch (Elliott), who's dying of lung cancer, to stop attacking cigarette smoking. His opponents don't stand a chance and Eckhart plays Nick with outlandish, glib charm and confidence. 92m/C DVD . US Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, David Koechner, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons, Robert Duvall, Kim Dickens, Connie Ray, Todd Louiso; D: Jason Reitman; W: Jason Reitman; C: James Whitaker; M: Rolfe Kent. Ind. Spirit ‘07: Screenplay.