Thank You for Smoking

Today I finally got around to seeing Thank You for Smoking, a satirical comedy about the machinations of a man who spins for the tobacco industry while trying to stay a role-model for his twelve-year-old kid. Insofar as this was reportedly a witty comedy, I couldn’t help thinking about Ridicule, another reportedly witty film, for in both movies the protagonists seem remarkably clever only because everyone else in the movie is thick. Thank You for Smoking is funny enough, I suppose, but a film like this really should be wittier.

Katie Holmes
(And Katie Holmes as the seductive journalist with “world class tits”? Please.)

The best thing that can be said about Thank You for Smoking, I think, is that it reflects a growing public unrest concerning the influence lobbyists have on politics. With a little luck, this unrest will appear on the list of profitable things to discuss when marketers begin determining what issues our candidates for high office will address in the next election.