Funny. Well-acted. Well-directed. Aaron Eckhart is not the angry, misogynistic asshole here that he did so incredibly well in The Company of Men. He’s a guy that wants to spend more time with his kid, and play the game that is his job really well.
It doesn’t matter to me if the people he works for are evil (or more blatantly cartoonishly evil than other companies that other people work for), or if he gets the conscience pangs that will make him renounce his past and work for cancer kids. He doesn’t, by the way. I don’t think I’m giving away much to say that this doesn’t turn into a sappy “I’ve Seen the Light!” kind of movie after 90 minutes black comedy.
But it’s not really even all that black to begin with – at least I don’t consider it to be. It’s even touching from time to time. Even when Nick (Eckhart) tries to pay off a dying cigarette spokesguy to stop badmouthing the industry, it manages to avoid the pitfalls on one side of sentimentality and on the other side of pure ruthlessness. Continue reading Thank You for Smoking