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The Movie: A film festival hit that sparked a bidding war and generated controversy when a scene involving Katie Holmes appeared to have been cut, "Thank You For Smoking" is a funny, swift satire from director Jason Reitman (son of director Ivan Reitman). The film (based on the novel by Christopher Buckley) focuses on Nick Naylor, an ego-driven and widely hated tobacco lobbyist who has bought into what he's been pushing so wholly and completely that he believes he can manipulate any argument in his favor: "If you argue correctly, you're never wrong," he says. The film opens with Nick on a talk show with an activist and a kid with cancer, yet - by the end of the segment - he's managed to spin things to his side and, to top it off, makes it look like the other side is the one that wants the child ill. Nick makes up a trio nicknamed the MOD (Merchants of Death) Squad. Polly (Maria Bello) represents alcohol manufacturers, and Bobby Jay (David Koechner)is the chief firearms lobbyist. The three chatter about the difficulties that they've encountered in attempting to keep their products stocked on the shelves and whose product has harmed more people. There's also the matter of Nick's boss, Captain (Robert Duvall), and an attractive reporter (Katie Holmes) who may have her own interests in mind. Nick is divorced and, despite his mother's resistance, takes his son (Cameron Bright, actually not playing creepy for once) on business trips, including trying to bribe the former Marlboro Man (Sam Elliott), who's now dying of cancer, and meeting with a slick Hollywood producer (Rob Lowe), who's willing to put smokes in his next sci-fi picture. Can't smoke in space? No problem, they'll figure something out. Yet, throughout all of this, his son's admiration (and also, being kidnapped by anti-smoking activists and forced to endure a ton of Nicotine patches) for him starts to make him wonder how he can be the role model that he wants to be to his son. Bright and Eckhart are believable as father/son, as well. The film's performances are absolutely terrific (Eckhart is at his smirky best making an unlikable character engaging, while Bright, Kochner, William H. Macy, Elliott and others provide ace supporting performances) and the film's breezy pace carries it well. Although "Thank You" doesn't hit its targets as fiercely as it could have(partially due to the fact that it plays things a little too safe at times and, while quick at 92 minutes, 15-20 minutes of filling out some characters and aspects of the story may have helped), it's still a clever picture with memorable dialogue and solid performances. The DVD VIDEO: "Thank You For Smoking" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen by Fox. The presentation remained crisp and well-defined throughout, with no instances of softness or other concerns. The presentation did show a couple of slight instances of edge enhancement in a few scenes, but no print flaws or artifacting was spotted. Colors popped nicely, appearing rich and well-saturated throughout. Flesh tones looked natural and black level appeared solid throughout. SOUND: "Thank You"'s Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. The film's soundtrack is straightforward and dialogue-driven, with little surround use. Audio quality is fine, with crisp dialogue and no concerns. EXTRAS: Director Jason Reitman offers up a solo commentary and joins actors Aaron Eckhart and David Kochner for a second track. We also get Eckhart, Reitman, author Christopher Buckley and producer David O. Sacks on "The Charlie Rose Show". "Unfiltered Comedy" and "America: Living In Spin" are short pieces that provide an overview of the film. Finally, we get a set of 13 deleted scenes, trailer and galleries. Final Thoughts: "Thank You" plays things a little lighter and safer than it should, but the performances and dialogue are sharp and entertaining. The DVD presentation offers fine audio/video quality, as well as a lot of supplements. Recommended. 
Film Grade The Film B+ DVD Grades Video 92/A Audio: 86/B Extras: 89/B+ |