Ralph's Movie Reviews: THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

Thursday, April 27, 2006

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

Comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Aaron Eckhart: Nick Naylor, spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies
Cameron Bright: his 12-year old son, Joey
Maria Bello: Polly Bailey, lobbyist for the alcohol industry
David Koechner: Bobby Jay Bliss, lobbyist for the firearms industry
Robert Duvall: The Captain, aging tobacco tycoon and principal financial supporter of the Academy
Sam Elliott: Lorne Lutch, the original Marlboro Man formerly featured in print advertising
Katie Holmes: Heather Holloway, reporter for The Washington Probe
William Macy: Vermont Senator Ortolan Finistirre
Rob Lowe: Jeff Megall, Hollywood executive

REVIEW
This is a very entertaining movie with a lot of amusing bits and a couple of laughs. The writing is first class as is the acting for the most part (Katie Holmes being the exception) and the editing are bang on. Unlike some satirical movies, this one is not too nasty but nevertheless makes the point .

CLASSIFICATION

for language (the f-word mostly) and some sexual content (but pretty mild stuff)

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
During one of their lunches, Bobby orders apple pie with a slice of cheese. It comes with a little American flag stuck in the middle of it. When Polly reaches over to take a bite, she knocks the flag off. The camera shifts to Nick briefly then back to Bobby who is sitting in front of a beautifully presented piece of apple pie with an American flag on it.

P.S.
Mephistopheles is a name given to one of the chief demons of Christian mythology that figure in European literary traditions. The name is frequently used as an alternative form of Satan or the Devil.

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.