Thank You for Smoking

Thank You for Smoking is a 2005 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Jason Reitman in his feature film director debut and starring Aaron Eckhart, based on the 1994 novel by Christopher Buckley. It follows the efforts of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor (Eckhart), who lobbies on behalf of cigarettes using heavy spin tactics while also trying to remain a role model for his 12-year-old son, played by Cameron Bright. Maria Bello, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, David Koechner, William H. Macy, J. K. Simmons, and Robert Duvall appear in supporting roles.

The film was released in a limited run on March 17, 2006, and had a wide release on April 14. It received largely positive reviews, with particular praise for its screenplay, humor, themes, and Eckhart's performance. As of 2007, the film had grossed a total of more than $39 million worldwide. The film was released on DVD in the US on October 3, 2006, and in the UK on January 8, 2007.

Nick Naylor is a Big Tobacco spokesman using "research" from an institution of which he is vice-president, a tobacco lobby called the "Academy of Tobacco Studies". It claims there is no link between tobacco and lung disease. Naylor and his friends, firearm lobbyist Bobby Jay Bliss and alcohol lobbyist Polly Bailey, meet for lunch every week and jokingly call themselves the "Merchants of Death" or "The MOD Squad". As anti-tobacco campaigns mount and numbers of young smokers decline, Naylor's boss, B.R., sends Naylor to Los Angeles to bargain for cigarette product placement in upcoming movies. Naylor takes along his young son, Joey, in hopes of bonding with him. The next day, Naylor is sent to meet with Lorne Lutch, the cancer-stricken man who once played the Marlboro Man in cigarette ads and is now campaigning against cigarettes. As his son watches, Naylor successfully convinces Lutch to take a suitcase of money for his silence by playing on Lutch's principles and need to provide for his family.

Senator Ortolan Finistirre, one of Naylor's most vehement critics, promotes a bill to add a skull and crossbones POISON warning to cigarette packaging. As Naylor is about to appear before a U.S. Senate committee to fight the bill, he is kidnapped by a clandestine group and covered in nicotine patches. Awakening in a hospital, he learns he has survived due to his high nicotine tolerance from heavy smoking, but he is now hypersensitive to nicotine and can never smoke again. Meanwhile, Naylor is seduced by a young reporter named Heather Holloway into revealing secret information about his life and career. She makes it public via an exposé, criticizing his business activities and accusing him of training his son Joey to follow his amoral example. This results in negative PR for Naylor, which costs him his job.

After he hides out in his home for a few days, Naylor is visited by Joey who uses some of the debating skills his father taught him, which reminds Naylor of his own principles. Naylor apologizes to his friends in the MOD Squad and is inspired to take a new tactic. Naylor laments to the press about Holloway's ethics of using his private conversations with him after sex and goads Finistirre into allowing him to testify before the Senate committee. During the hearing, Naylor surprises everyone by admitting to the dangers of smoking but argues that public awareness is already high enough without extra warnings. He emphasizes consumer choice and responsibility and claims that if tobacco companies are guilty of tobacco-related deaths, then perhaps Finistirre's state of Vermont, as a major cheese producer, is likewise guilty of cholesterol-related deaths. When Finistirre attempts to regain control by demanding what Naylor would do when his son was 18 and wanted to smoke, Naylor simply replies that if his son wants to smoke then he'd buy him his first pack.

Although B.R. insists in a live interview that Naylor is still their chief spokesman, Naylor rejects the job on camera. It turns out to be a good move as Big Tobacco is settling claims of liability and the Academy of Tobacco Studies shuts down. Naylor also mentions Heather was humiliated upon being terminated by the paper for her article and has been reduced to a cub reporter handling weather on a local news station. Naylor supports his son's newfound interest in debating and opens a private lobbying firm. The MOD Squad continues to meet with new members who represent the fast-food, oil, and biohazard industries. Now Naylor runs an agency called Naylor Strategic Relations and consults for cellphone industry representatives concerned about claims that cellphones cause brain cancer. He narrates: "Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent."

Director Jason Reitman asked many of his prospective actors and actresses to be in the film by writing each of them a personal letter. Every one of his first choices accepted his or her part and most thanked Reitman for his letter. Reitman was also able to persuade Eckhart, Holmes, Macy, and Lowe to sign on to the film with minimum pay.

Mel Gibson's Icon Productions bought the rights to Buckley's novel before its release. Initially, Gibson saw himself as starring as Nick Naylor in the adaptation. However, the satiric nature of the book meant the studio lacked a way to film it and the project lacked a usable script. Reitman became interested in heading an adaptation after reading the book, and independently wrote a draft for Icon executives after he discovered they owned the rights to the film. Reitman saw himself as a comic writer with a voice similar to Buckley's, and consciously attempted to maintain the satiric flavor of the book for his draft. The script was received favorably by Icon, and Gibson called Reitman to tell him how much he loved it. Over the next three years, the project languished because of a lack of financing and big studio interest, as most studios wanted Reitman to rewrite his script to include a more anti-smoking and uplifting ending. According to Reitman, studios wanted Naylor to have a change of heart by the film's end and repent for his past.