When your résumé consists of Juno, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Up in the Air, it’s just a simple fact of life that some of your other films might take up less space in the collective subconscious of modern moviegoers.
Such is the exact case for Academy Award-nominated writer-director Jason Reitman, whose more lucrative productions seem to have overshone his earliest feature film, 2005’s Thank You for Smoking.
Based on Christopher Buckley’s 1994 novel of the same name, Thank You for Smoking is a satirical black comedy film that stars Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Erin Brockovich) as Nick Naylor, a tobacco lobbyist whose financial livelihood depends on how well he advocates for the purchasing of tobacco products; a job that puts him at odds with his goal of being a good role model for his son Joey.
It fared quite well with critics, boasting an 86 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it landed just as well with audiences, too, if the praise from the Reitman fans over on r/movies is anything to go by.
A couple of users gave a special nod to Eckhart’s leading performance, suggesting that his name isn’t as bankable as it deserves to be.
Another user offered up one of the film’s cheekiest quotes; one that, unfortunately, has aged like the finest of wines.
A handful of other users also recommended that fans of the movie give the book a read, while others suggested that the film pulls off the rare feat of being better than its literary counterpart.
It looks like the Reitman train has come full circle in its reappraisal cycle, and perhaps you’ll end up thanking the folks who recommend Thank You for Smoking as a watch worth the revisit.
Published: Sep 15, 2022 08:09 am