History Film / ThankYouForSmoking

* ChekhovsGunman: Late in the book (only), [[spoiler:Gomez saves Nick's bacon and provides him with clues.]]

* AdaptationDistillation: The book and the movie are such substantially different animals that it's almost hard to believe anyone on the crew actually read the book (although the movie is still a worthy product in its own right: Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad). Many elements of the plot have been reduced, rearranged or cut out entirely, which creates a completely different narrative. There are too many examples to list here, but the biggest example is the kidnapping. In the book, it takes place at the beginning and is hugely important to the plot, and is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler: a plot by BR to get good publicity and get Nick out of the way, allowing Janette to take his place.]] In the movie, it takes place at the end but still mark a point in the sense that [[spoiler: even after his near death experience, and the fact that he can never smoke again due to all the nicotine patches the kidnappers forced onto him. Nick doesn't discourage people to smoke.]] So the message of the film still stand: choice is the most important thing.

** With Vanilla vs. Chocolate, Nick alters the argument from "Which is better?" to "You're denying me the right to choose by saying chocolate's best!"

--> '''Nick Naylor''': Cigarettes [[RecycledInSpace in space?]]

-->'''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 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]]. [[CruellaToAnimals The baby seal poacher]].
-->'''Polly:''' ''Baby seal poacher?''
-->'''Bobby:''' Even ''[[UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics I]]'' think that's kind of cruel...

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Invoked in-universe, where it is proposed that movies featuring smoking be "improved" by removing the cigarettes and replacing them with less offensive objects.

* PunnyName: Maria Bello probably wouldn't have gotten listed third in the opening credits if her name's resemblance to Marboro didn't play great into the cigarette packaging theme of said opening.

-->'''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]]. [[CruellaToAnimals The baby seal poacher]].

* AcceptableTargets: InUniverse, when the movie producer tells Nick that only three kinds of people still smoke in the movies nowadays: [[FunWithAcronyms RAVs]], or [[DirtyCommies Russians]], [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Arabs]], and [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking Villains.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Jill, Nick's ex-wife. She gets uppity when Nick tries to spend time with their son; she seems to think that since he defends Big Tobacco, he's obviously going to tie their son down and force him to smoke at gunpoint. At one point she basically says to him "Why would he want to hang out with you when he could hang out with Brad?" (Joey's stepdad).
* JerkassHasAPoint: Jill (and Brad) are right in that Nick does not seem to stop smoking when with Joey. [[spoiler:Later, she brings Joey to Nick just after he suffered his TraumaCongaLine.]]

* SouthernGentleman: The Captain gives off this vibe with his white suit, Southern accent, and many riches. The PoliticallyIncorrectVillain [[CorruptHick angle]] is also subtly hinted: ]His waiters? They're all Black.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Naylor expresses concern with a hypothetical sci-fi movie pitch depicting astronauts smoking in a starship, saying that lighting a cigarette in a pure oxygen environment would cause an explosion. In real life, if cigarettes are lit in a 100% oxygen setting they’d burn hotter and after but would not explode themselves or the surrounding air. What's more, manned space craft haven't used pure oxygen atmospheres since the early Apollo days, precisely because it would accelerate a fire, so the whole point is moot.

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."

* 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's name is supposed to be pronounced ''finis terre'' instead of Finister. It's French for [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast 'End of the World'.]]

* AntiVillain: Nick is a ruthless lobbyist for a product that poisons people... but he's such a cool, charming guy, you almost forget that.

* GunNut: Bobby Jay, the firearms industry spokesman, is packing multiple handguns at any one time. Also a bit of a HeroicComedicSociopath, with Nick noting that Bobby joined the National Guard after witnessing the Kent University riots, as he wanted to shoot at college students too. Instead, he got sent to fight Panamanians, who shoot back.

''Thank You for Smoking'' is a 1994 novel written by Christopher Buckley and 2005 [[BlackComedy dark comedy]] film directed by Creator/JasonReitman and starring Creator/AaronEckhart, Creator/WilliamHMacy and Creator/KatieHolmes.

* 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's name is supposed to be pronounced ''[[ItIsPronouncedTroPay finis terre]]'' instead of Finister. It's French for [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast 'End of the World'.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** Nick, BR, and their company can hide the issue from the public as much as they want, but they can't stop [[spoiler:The Captain from dying of lung cancer.]]
** Heather publishes an [[spoiler:expose of Nick, justifying under ExactWords that Nick never said what was off-record. This causes him to lose his job and credibility. After a brief HeroicBSOD, Nick reveals in various interviews that she used sex to get the information. This is a gross violation of journalism ethics, and her coworkers give her an EveryoneHasStandards look when the story breaks. In addition, he uses the DoubleStandard that women are blamed more in affairs. Heather loses her job on this criteria and is demoted to a weather reporter]].

* IrrelevantThesis: Nick Naylor, constantly.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: If cigarettes were taken into space, they wouldn't "explode" just because they were in a 100% oxygen environment. They'd burn hotter and faster, sure, but that's a far cry from an explosion. What's more, manned space craft haven't used pure oxygen atmospheres since the early Apollo days, precisely because it would accelerate a fire, so the whole point is moot.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Invoked deliberately with Bobby, who offers to loan his pistol to Nick by drawing at a diner table and putting his finger in the trigger guard. Though to be fair, he does point it upwards and the pistol in question, a 1911 variant, has its hammer uncocked, meaning it won't fire if the trigger is pulled.