Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Thank You for Smoking (2005)




I am often curious how some guys get the best out of any situation.  Even when they are holed out in a corner with apparently no options, they not only come out of the tight situation but convert it to their advantage.  One such guy is our hero.  He is a tobacco lobbyist, who is very good in smooth talking against anti-tobacco campaigns.  He along with a weapon and an alcohol lobbyists form the MOD (Merchants of Death) squad.

Look at the situations that he gets into.  He is cornered in a live TV show with a patient who has just recovered from tobacco addiction.  He is assigned to silence a bad mouthing former Marlboro Man, who is very shrewd and can't be fooled easily.  He gets involved with a reported who back stabs by revealing his game plan.  He gets kidnapped and almost killed by forced nicotine patch abuse.  From all these problems, he emerges a little scathed but ultimately successful.

There is no soul-searching on moral correctness of the protagonist.  Just like the negotiator in "Unthinkable", he is just doing his job with a monk-like detachment. His son admires his adventures and inherits his legacy by winning in the school debate competition.  I was also admiring all along making mental comparisons with similar personalities I have met.  Their knack of getting successful still eludes my tiny little intelligence.

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