Last weekend I saw a film. In English. With no singing and dancing.
(I'm picking on myself a bit, but I have been known occasionally to watch films that are not Indian. Recently, while I was practicing Hindi with some classmates, one asked me how many Indian films I'd seen. "Laghbag tiis," I answered - about thirty. Another classmate turned to me and asked, "What number did you say?" "Tiis," I repeated. By the look on his face I could tell that he was wondering whether he'd understood me correctly. Tiis hindii filme.n bahut filme.n to hai.n - thirty Hindi films is indeed a lot of films. I'm due for another installment of the GOAT Indian film list - I've seen eight or nine films that I haven't yet written up. Stay tuned!)
The film was Thank You for Smoking, Jason Reitman's satirical look at the age of spin. It tells the story of Nick Naylor, a high-energy spokesman for the tobacco lobby. While not terribly challenging in its message, the film was crisply executed and very, very funny. Many of the funny lines are given away in the trailer, but the movie packs many more terrific zingers into its tight ninety minutes. The performances, by the likes of William H. Macy, Rob Lowe, and J.K. Simmons, were, for the most part, were understated and clever, and Aaron Eckhart as the central Nick Naylor was perfect.
The arc of Nick Naylor's story - his rise, his fall, and the eventual reclamation of his dignity - is presented with Nick's narration and commentary. Much of the challenge to the questionable morality of his line of work comes from Nick's ten-year-old son, who idolizes his father and wants to understand what he does. There is something undeniably repugnant about Nick educating his son about the particular brand of dishonesty in which he is expert, particularly as his son tags along with Nick to a meeting with a Hollywood impresario (Lowe) and a mission to buy the silence of the former Marlboro Man. And yet somehow the movie presents Nick's story with sympathy and humor, as it explores the amorality of spin control and the value of autonomous thinking. And the encapsulation of Nick's fatherly teaching is something I am tempted to write on the whiteboard in my office, to keep in mind as I represent my litigation clients: "That's the beauty of argument. If you argue right, you're never wrong."
(Maria Bello, David Koechner, and Eckhart as the "MOD Squad" - the Merchants of Death - lobbyists for the alcohol, firearms, and tobacco industries.)
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