Customer Reviews
The Yuppie Nuremberg Defense - By: Bentley, 17 Jun 2008 
"I just need to pay the mortgage. Aside: The Yuppie Nuremberg Defense."
- Nick Naylorin Thank you for Smoking
Because of a fellow reviewer's comment, I decided to watch THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. Aaron Eckhart plays Nick Naylor who is a VP & "chief talking head" for the Academy of Tobacco Studies.
The Academy is supposed to research the link between nicotine & cancer. Who would have thought that they would never find any connection?
Nick gets himself into trouble with his "flexible morals" & his errant lobbying ways; but never loses the support of his young son Joey, played by Cameron Bright (despite what his ex wife calls his "dependency issues").
This is a great satirical piece; it was based upon a novel by Christopher Buckley & was the first full feature film directed by Jason Reitman (of Juno fame).
In terms of sensitivities, the film has little. This is not an endorsement of the cigarette industry; but it still does present a callous view of the deep sufferings of many (all caused by nicotine). If this does not hit close to home for you, the satire is well done & Naylor learns a lesson about the emancipation of those enslaved by nicotine himselfin a not so presidential manner.
Nick swaps horses; but doesn't seem to have lost any of his stripes by the end of the flick. A very funny film about a not so funny addiction.
Recommended: B+ (A biting satirical study)
Bentley/2008
The King of Spin - By: M. A. Ramos, 08 Oct 2007 Nick Naylor: Right there, looking into Joey's eyes, it all came backin a rush. Why I do what I do. Defending the defenseless, protecting the disenfranchised corporations that have been abandoned by their very own consumers: the logger, the sweatshop foreman, the oil driller, the land mine developer, the baby seal poacher...
Polly Bailey: Baby seal poacher?
The Merchants of Death, the MOD Squad, meet weeklyin a bar for mutual support & to share tales of weal & woe. The Mod Squad consists of three spin masters, one each for the tobacco, alcohol & gun industries. We fallow Nick Naylor played by Aaron Eckhart who is the Spin King of the Tobacco Industry. Nick is great at what he does, & that is talk, or shall we say spin. He does damage control & promotes the tobacco industries. No matter what is thrown at him & regardless of how bad the allegation, Nick is able to make tobacco come out looking like the good guy to his audience.
Nick Naylor does not know the meaning of the word ethics, & won't let them getin the way of his arguments or our laughs. He weaves his way with twisted phrases & the ridiculous spin; you cannot help but laugh, even when you know you shouldn't. He does le his guard down & lets a reporter, played by Katie Holmes, get to close too him & shares too much information with her which she publishes. The only time you see that Nick may have a heart is when he sees that his 12-year old son is starting to followin his foot steps & spins things to get his way, even his own mother.
This film will have you laughing out loud & though you do not want to, you will be rooting for Nick Naylor. What this movie shows is that all large industries that have the probability of bad press will have spin masters. And we know politicians use them as well. So take a comedic look at how they work.
