STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is damn good at his job but that doesn't stop him being any less detested for it- he's a spokesperson for the tobacco companies, cleverly putting slants on 'proven' medical facts and observations. But he's facing a new opponent in the shape of Senator Finistirre (William H Macy) who's challenging him to come to a commitee and stand up against some new anti-smoking material he's discovered. He's also got to struggle to be a positive role model to his 12 year old son Joey (Cameron Bright) who he takes on a cross country trip to try and bond with. And, to top it all off, the tobacco giants are desperate to make smoking appear 'cool' in the movies again, a job they leave at the hands of Nick. But a double crossing reporter (Katie Holmes) and a group threatening to bump off Nick for the 'lives he's ruined', his own life is starting to look pretty bumpy on it's own.

Always leave it to the small independent films to produce the best comedies, because they generally do a much better job of it than big over-blown Hollywood productions. TYFS has received a large number of generally glowing reviews up to this point...and I'm glad to say this will be another one.

With a title and premise that was guaranteed to spark controversy (or maybe outrage would be a better word?) rather than go for shock value in any other way, this manages to be a consistently clever and sharp stab at the hypocrisy and over-reaction that can cloud those who make it their lives to poo poo tobacco and those who try and defend it, with one of the greatest cinematic characters in a while in Nick. He defends an industry I despise, so it's credit to the film that he struck a chord as such a savvy and charismatic guy who carries the film to the beat of his own tune. Great performances all round also do the film no end of favours, guided along by a screen play that dishes out witty and sparkling dialogue by the bucket-load, making the film a seemingly never-ending glee ride.

Thank you for Smoking, Please come Again. ****

Lobbyist Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the slick, amoral, sharp-tongue vice-President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies. He can spin any argument in favor of tobacco. BR (J.K. Simmons) is his loud bombastic boss. His best friends are alcohol lobby Moderation Council's Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) and gun lobby SAFETY's Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner). Their biggest opposition is Senator Ortolan Finistirre (William H. Macy). Tobacco baron, the Captain (Robert Duvall) puts him in charge of bringing tobacco back to Hollywood. His son Joey (Cameron Bright) guilts his ex-wife Jill (Kim Dickens) to let him go on the LA trip. Reporter Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes) has a fling with him and betrays him.

Jason Reitman has filmed a brilliant and smart movie. The problem is that people are too stupid except for Nick. It's really frustrating to see stupid people failing to argue with Nick. The other problem is that the characters are all caricatures which takes away any poignancy. It also takes away the comedy. There are too many things that annoy which is the opposite of funny. It also feels too light and bright for the subject matter. Nick needs to be hiding something dark and ugly. He's more of a robot than a fully developed human being. Anything with Dennis Miller smirking is not funny. I don't feel for the guy or that annoying kid. The only guy I'm interested in is the guy who threatened him on Dennis Miller's show. It's one of the few moments where reality seeped into the performances and the movie. Even the kidnapping scene is problematic. Any kidnapper would want to shut him up by duct taping his mouth. The whole medical thing sounds unreal. This is such a smartly written movie but the general feeling from it is one of frustrating annoyance.

The chief spokesperson and lobbyist Nick Taylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the Vice-President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies. He is talented in speaking and spins argument to defend the cigarette industry in the most difficult situations. His best friends are Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) that works in the Moderation Council in alcohol business, and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) of the gun business own advisory group SAFETY. They frequently meet each other in a bar and they self-entitle the Mod Squad a.k.a. Merchants of Death, disputing which industry has killed more people. Nick's greatest enemy is Vermont's Senator Ortolan Finistirre (William H. Macy),who defends in the Senate the use a skull and crossed bones in the cigarette packs. Nick's son Joey Naylor (Cameron Bright) lives with his mother, and has the chance to know his father in a business trip. When the ambitious reporter Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes) betrays Nick disclosing confidences he had in bed with her, his life turns upside-down. But Nick is good in what he does for the mortgage.

"Thank you for Smoking" is a great politically incorrect movie, that satirizes the phobia against smokers and cigarette industry. Aaron Eckhart is simply awesome in the role of a man that has argument and is good in talking. The witty screenplay is original, using cynical lines and amoral characters. I quited smoking almost twenty-five years ago, and I do not like smokers and cigarettes, but Nick Taylor is amazing spinning the truth to defend the cigarette industry to pay his mortgage. Like said in "An Inconvenient Truth": "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it". My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Obrigado Por Fumar" ("Thank you for Smoking")