History Film / ThankYouForSmoking

'''''Thank You for Smoking''''' is a 1994 novel written by Christopher Buckley and 2005 [[BlackComedy dark comedy]] film directed by Jason Reitman and starring Aaron Eckhart and William H. Macy.

->''"You know that guy who could pick up any girl? I'm him--'''[[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on crack]]'''."''

* BlackComedy: It's a ''Comedy'' about ''smoking.''

-->'''Nick:''' "And right there, looking into Joey's eyes, it all came back in a rush. Why I do what I do. Defending the defenseless. Protecting the [[AcceptableTargets disenfranchised corporations]] that had been abandoned by their very own consumers. [[GaiasLament The logger]]. [[EthnicMenialLabor The sweatshop foreman]]. [[Film/ThereWillbeBlood The oil driller]]. [[LandMineGoesClick The landmine developer]]. [[BreadEggsMilkSquick The baby seal poacher]]."
-->'''Polly:''' "''Baby seal poacher.''"
-->'''Bobby:''' "Even ''[[AmericanGunPolitics I]]'' think that's kind of cruel..."

--> '''Jeff''': ... probably. But it's an easy fix. One line of dialogue. "Thank God we invented the, [[AppliedPhlebotinum you know... whatever... device]]."

--> '''Larry King:''' Care to Comment Nick?

* LittlestCancerPatient: "And where in the hell did you find Cancer Boy? . . . When you're looking for a cancer kid, he should be hopeless! He should have a wheelchair, he should have trouble talking, he should have a little pet goldfish he carries around in a ziplock bag. Hopeless!"

''Thank You for Smoking'' is a 1994 novel written by Christopher Buckley and 2005 [[BlackComedy dark comedy]] film directed by Jason Reitman and starring Aaron Eckhart and William H. Macy. Eckhart's character, Nick Naylor, is a lobbyist for the big tobacco corporations, and his job is to defend them in the moral, economic and social arena of the United States. The film asks many questions about the morality of smoking versus free choice. The main plot of the film is Naylor's progression through different mindsets in the tobacco industry, particularly as he tries to appear as a good role model to his 10-year-old son. Although the film doesn't take a strong stance for or against smoking, it teaches us that "the great state of Vermont will not apologize for its cheese."

->"''You know that guy who could pick up any girl? I'm him--'''[[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on crack]]'''."''
-->--'''Nick [[MeaningfulName Naylor]]'''

-->'''Nick:''' "And right there, looking into Joey's eyes, it all came back in a rush. Why I do what I do. Defending the defenseless. Protecting the [[AcceptableTargets disenfranchised corporations]] that had been abandoned by their very own consumers. [[GaiasLament The logger]]. [[EthnicMenialLabor The sweatshop foreman]]. [[ThereWillbeBlood The oil driller]]. [[LandMineGoesClick The landmine developer]]. [[BreadEggsMilkSquick The baby seal poacher]]."

''Thank You for Smoking'' is a 1994 novel written by ChristopherBuckley and 2005 [[BlackComedy dark comedy]] film directed by Jason Reitman and starring Aaron Eckhart and WilliamHMacy. Eckhart's character, Nick Naylor, is a lobbyist for the big tobacco corporations, and his job is to defend them in the moral, economic and social arena of the United States. The film asks many questions about the morality of smoking versus free choice. The main plot of the film is Naylor's progression through different mindsets in the tobacco industry, particularly as he tries to appear as a good role model to his 10-year-old son. Although the film doesn't take a strong stance for or against smoking, it teaches us that "the great state of Vermont will not apologize for its cheese."

* DidNotDoTheResearch: A strange example. When discussing the potential movie that's supposed to show how SmokingIsCool [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]], Nick mentions to the director that smoking in a space shuttle wouldn't be possible, since the director didn't do his research, and that smoking in a oxygen atmosphere would be a fire hazard. It gets odd when you realize that ''Nick'' doesn't know what he's talking about, because space shuttles don't have pure oxygen for the air, for the very reason Nick pointed out (flamability). It's also unhealthy to breathe 100% oxygen. It gets stranger when you realize that due to the way that fire works in zero gravity, smoking in zero gravity (the main reason the director wants it, because he thought it would [[RuleOfCool look cool]]) probably wouldn't be possible. [[WildMassGuessing Although who knows if the filmmakers knew that or not?]]
** Also acknowledged by the agent he's pitching the idea with, who admits that research doesn't really matter in movies.
--> It's an easy fix; one line of dialog. "Thank God they invented the whatever device."

-->'''Nick:''' I'm just tickled by the idea of the gentleman from Vermont calling me a hypocrite, when the same man in one day held a press conference where he called for American tobacco fields to be slashed and burned, and then jumped on a private jet and flew out to farmyard where he rode a tractor on-stage as he bemoaned the downfall of the American farmer.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[TheDarkKnight Harvey Dent]] appears to be working for [[{{Spiderman}} J. Jonah Jameson]], but he still has a thing for Rachel Dawes (see "HilariousInHindsight" in the YMMV tab).

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** Depends. He is carrying cigarettes, an open pack too (we see it when he watches 'Sands of Iwo Jima'), but as far as i remember there is only one (!) person who smokes in the whole movie: The Captain.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Nick himself. The lobbyist for the tobacco industry is never seen smoking in the film.

->"''You know that guy who could pick up any girl? I'm him--'''[[UpToEleven on crack]]'''."''

* MeaningfulName: In the director's commentary Reitman mentions a conversation with Buckley about [[AdaptationDecay the things he got wrong in the film]]. One of them is that Senator Finistirre name is supposed to be pronounced ''[[ItIsPronouncedTroPay finis terre]]'' instead of Finister. It's French for [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast 'End of the World'.]]

** Not that a spaceship (especially one for long missions) would have an all-oxygen environment. That would be rather unhealthy in many ways. And the fact you'd have to widely wave around a cigarette for it to stay lit in space.

* IronicEcho- Everyone's got a mortgage to pay.

*** Well then thank god indeed for the lifesaving whatever device.

* ZeroGSpot: discussed, in combination with SmokingHotSex

** Everybody probably knows better.

* DeadBabyComedy: It's a ''Comedy'' about ''smoking.''

* FridgeLogic: Will a "POISON" label on cigarettes ''really'' discourage teens from smoking? Wouldn't that be... cooler?

* AffablyEvil: [[YourMileageMayVary Depending on your viewpoint]], Nick; he earns his living by defending and promoting cigarette companies, but he's a devoted father and rather charming and likable man.
** Even more is Bobby Jay Bliss, the gun control lobbyist. It's rare to see a [[strike:N.R.A]] [[FunWithAcronyms S.A.F.E.T.Y]] member so sympathetic in a movie. He almost borders on EvilIsFunny with the M.O.D. stickers. It's mentioned in the book that he's a Born-again Christian.

* PunchClockVillain : If you consider Nick to be a VillainProtagonist, he will be likely one of these.

* VillainProtagonist: Depending on your perspective on smoking. Nick Naylor is played straight as a classic protagonist in a Hero's Journey, despite being what many would consider a villain in the cigarette wars.