Waiting to Inhale at Human Events

I’ve briefly mentioned how much I enjoyed Thank You for Smoking already, but my complete take is available today at Human Events. The film, which is as much a satire of the argument industry—in both its DC and LA versions—as a look at the world of Big Tobacco, is one of the more enjoyable satires to come around in a while. Here’s a preview:

In many ways, "Thank You for Smoking" is an exploration of the culture and business of professional argument. Nick, who makes his living as a sort of linguistic contortionist, explains to young Joey that, "if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong," and finds himself spinning facts and figures in everyday conversations with his family. Nick and his lobbyist cohorts even have to stop themselves from fighting for bragging rights over whose industry causes the most deaths. Like Philip Roth's satirical novel "Our Gang" and the policy-rapping antics of Warren Beatty's "Bulworth," the movie exposes the fragility of language and the way words can be endlessly reconstituted to serve nearly any purpose.

But unlike "Our Gang" or other political satires of its ilk, "Thank You for Smoking" smartly avoids using the malleability of language as fuel for partisan rage. Instead, it suggests that free, individual choice, buffered by strong families and good education, should be the ideal. Reitman claims to believe that "freedom is tough, liberty is tough," and that he doesn’t like government control. His movie reflects this, allowing that there are some shady, cynical characters on the tobacco side of the fight, but reserving just as much venom for the pusillanimous arrogance of the regulation-addicted Senators and government busybodies who populate the halls of American bureaucracy.