Thank You For Smoking (Widescreen DVD-Video)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: D
I have
never been much of a fan of Ivan Reitman, who more than any other commercial
filmmaker seems to have anything good in his films happen by accident. His son Jason has made several feature films
as well and none of them have impressed me much either. Thank
You For Smoking (2006) had the most promise of any of his films to date,
but it is shocking how much it does not work.
This
satire of the viciousness of the Tobacco Industry to keep customers and seduce
new ones is the perfect subject for a broad satire. Michael Mann’s The Insider showed the dark side of what extent the industry would
go through to keep their dirty little secrets.
Reitman is so smug and silly in thinking he is doing some kind of Dr. Strangelove that he lands up
trivializing the very thing he is supposed to be targeting.
Based on
the Christopher Buckley book, a fine cast including Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello,
Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, Sean Patrick Murphy, the great
Robert Duvall & William H. Macy cannot overcome the dippy tone of the
film. Like many Left-of-center
documentaries about serious subjects, Reitman’s screenplay adaptation of the
book is just so unfortunate. There is
energy here, but it is all over the place and the 90 minutes just become one
big run on that amounts to little. No
funny.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is not good either, with softness,
detail issues and even color issues throughout.
Cinematographer James Whitaker adds a visual approach that has too many
close shots for a scope production, though that is typical of Super 35mm
productions that shoot like flat or full screen films. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is also surprisingly
lacking in surrounds and Rolfe Kent’s score is not that good. Dialogue is well recorded for the most part. Extras include director/cast commentary, Charlie Rose Show interview promoting
the film, making of featurette, America – Living in Spin featurette
and deleted scenes. Not much more there,
just reminding us of how much this film backfires. Skip this one and see Mann’s film if you
missed it instead.
- Nicholas Sheffo
