Film: Thank You For Smoking

On the surface, Thank You For Smoking is a film about a guy who can talk. He has charm and wit and uses both in his job as a pro-smoking lobbyist. Oh and it has Katie Holmes in it.

But really this is a film about spin in general. It presents the tricks of the trade, the reasons why some people do what others find despicable, and humanises something most of us would think is quite the opposite. It even touches on relativism at one point. Moreover, it presents all of these in an easily digestible manner - the film is a pleasure to watch.

The key word above is "touches" though, since the film doesn't really go too deep into the various ideas it explores. I'd even say it's more of a comedy than satire; you never take any of the characters or issues too seriously and therefore you don't take what it has to say seriously either. I guess that's the trade-off with making something accessible.

The film is clever in that it spins the concept of spin itself - you're rooting for Nick (the lobbyist) by the end of the film, and are almost happily convinced when he argues against the anti-smoking lobby. It deserves points just for that! Oh, and it has Katie Holmes in it.

So slightly disappointing then. Go watch, just don't expect it to expand on what you already know.