Review: "Thank You for Smoking" is Too Glib (Happy B'day, Aaron Eckhart)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 229 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Thank You for Smoking (2005)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR:  Jason Reitman
WRITERS:  Jason Reitman (based upon the novel by Christopher Buckley)
PRODUCER:  David O. Sacks
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  James Whitaker (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Dana E. Glauberman
COMPOSER:  Rolfe Kent
Golden Globes nominee

COMEDY with elements of drama

Starring:  Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Sam Elliot, Katie Holmes, David Koechner, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons, and Robert Duvall, Kim Dickens, Adam Brody, and Todd Louiso

The subject of this movie review is Thank You for Smoking, a 2005 satirical comedy written for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman.  The film is based on the 1994 novel, Thank You for Smoking, by author Christopher Buckley.  Thank You for Smoking the movie follows the tobacco industry’s chief spokesman as he spins and disseminates information on behalf of cigarettes, while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son.

As Vice-President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the main lobbyist and primary spin doctor for Big Tobacco.  Naylor is on a mission to make the country forget the dangers and health risks of smoking cigarettes.  However, his mission gets tougher with health advocates and the opportunistic Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre (William H. Macy) determined to put a new poison label (in the form of an image of the skull & bones) on cigarette packs.  Naylor goes on the PR offensive with a strategy to get big Hollywood actors to smoke on screen, as the movie stars of yesteryear did in the Golden Age of Hollywood movies.  Nick enlists, Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe), a Hollywood super-agent, to help him get smoking on screen again.

However, Nicky’s newfound notoriety does not go unnoticed by Big Tobacco’s head honcho, The Captain (Robert Duvall), who gives his blessing to Nick’s Hollywood plan.  Nick’s activities also get the attention of a beautiful, young investigative reporter, Heather Halloway (Katie Holmes), who is willing to use her body to get Nick to tell her his secrets.  Even with a busy schedule, Nick still finds time to hold forth with two comrades – two other lobbyists for industries also facing public backlash: Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) of the alcohol industry and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) of the gun industry.  Together, the three of them are the Merchants of Death or M.O.D. Squad.  Nick’s also a father, and he’s trying to remain a role model to his young, impressionable son, Joey Naylor (Cameron Bright), who thinks his dad is a god, but Nick’s ex-wife, Jill Naylor (Kim Dickens), isn’t sure a tobacco lobbyist is the best dad material.

Jason Reitman, the son of famed comedy director, Ivan Reitman (Animal House, Ghostbusters), has a more cerebral approach to film comedy than his father, and that’s clearly evident in the clever, offhand satire, Thank You for Smoking, which Reitman adapted from the novel by Christopher Buckley.  The film comes across as a savage satire of the tobacco industry, but Reitman directs the film with such elegance that Thank You for Smoking sometimes comes across as glib and soulless.  In his attempt to impale Big Tobacco, and also throw sand in the face of shallow Hollywood, opportunistic big media, and shameless Congress, Reitman’s movie ends up gabby and has no real villains.  This is a satire that comes across as if it’s teasing its targets rather than criticizing them.

While Thank You for Smoking holds up the characters and subject matter for detached scrutiny, the cast isn’t afraid to get down and dirty.  The actors take delight in revealing the characters for all their oily selfishness.  They’re all out for their own interests, and what little guilt they feel merely adds a light pungent flavor to the characters.  The best performance is delivered, of course, by Aaron Eckhart as the film’s protagonist/quasi-villain, Nick Naylor.  A character actor who can play an amazing range of lead characters, Eckhart gives Thank You for Smoking its gift of gab.  Eckhart’s screen chemistry with Cameron Bright, the young actor who plays Nick’s son, Joey, is supernaturally real.  It’s like a real father and son duo.

Eckhart humanizes Naylor, and makes the viewer like him and want to engage him.  Thank You for Smoking is well-written and well-directed (considering the inexperience of the director), and the technical aspects are pretty good.  But it’s Aaron Eckhart who makes Thank You for Smoking something more than just another satirical film essay.  He makes it memorable.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, November 06, 2006

NOTES:
2007 Golden Globes:  2 nominations:  “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Aaron Eckhart)

Updated:  Wednesday, March 12, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Official Poster for Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" is Released

LABOR DAY

Labor Day” centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive mother Adele while confronting all the pangs of adolescence.  On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers, a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and later is revealed to be an escaped convict.  The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.

DECEMBER 25, 2013 (Limited release)

Official site: LaborDayMovie.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/LaborDayMovie

Twitter: Twitter.com/paramountpics

Shooting Begins on Next Jason Reitman Film "Labor Day"

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND INDIAN PAINTBRUSH ANNOUNCE THE START OF PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY ON REITMAN’S “LABOR DAY”

Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., and Indian Paintbrush announced today that principal photography has begun on “LABOR DAY,” from Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Jason Reitman, with Academy Award®-winner Kate Winslet and Academy Award®-nominated Josh Brolin starring. The film is shooting in Massachusetts.

Based on Joyce Maynard’s novel of the same name, the film is written and directed by Reitman (“Young Adult,” “Up in the Air”) who will produce with his partner Helen Estabrook through their Right of Way Films banner, along with the Academy Award®-nominated team of Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith (“Young Adult,” “Juno”) of Mr. Mudd. Steven Rales (“Young Adult,” “Like Crazy”) and Mark Roybal (“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “No Country for Old Men”) of Indian Paintbrush will serve as executive producers.

“LABOR DAY” centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive mother Adele while confronting all the pangs of adolescence. On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers, a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and later is revealed to be an escaped convict. The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.

Winslet (“REVOLUTIONARY ROAD,” “THE READER”) stars as Adele Wheeler, the reclusive mother and Josh Brolin (“TRUE GRIT,” “NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN”) is Frank Chambers. Gattlin Griffith (“GREEN LANTERN,” “CHANGELING”) plays Adele’s son Henry. Rounding out the cast is Tom Lipinski (“SUITS”) as the young Frank; Clark Gregg (“MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS”) as Henry’s father Gerald; Alexie Gilmore (“DEFINITELY, MAYBE”) plays Marjorie, Gerald’s new wife and Henry’s stepmom; Lucas Hedges (“MOONRISE KINGDOM”) plays her son Richard; Brighid Fleming (“GAMER”) as Henry’s friend Eleanor; James Van Der Beek (“DON’T TRUST THE B---- IN APARTMENT 23”) as Officer Treadwell; Maika Monroe as young Frank’s sweetheart Mandy; Brooke Smith (“GREY’S ANATOMY,”) as Adele’s friend Evelyn and Micah Fowler as Evelyn’s son Barry.


About Paramount Pictures CorporationParamount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in Next Jason Reitman Film

PARAMOUNT AND INDIAN PAINTBRUSH TEAM WITH REITMAN, WINSLET, AND BROLIN FOR “LABOR DAY”

Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush jointly announced today they will co-produce, and Paramount will distribute, Academy Award®-nominated writer / director Jason Reitman’s Labor Day starring Academy Award®-winner Kate Winslet and Academy Award® nominee Josh Brolin. Indian Paintbrush will co-finance the project, with the company’s Steven Rales and Mark Roybal executive producing.

The movie will be produced by Academy Award®-nominated producers Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith of Mr. Mudd Productions, along with Reitman and Helen Estabrook of Right of Way Films.

Adapted by Reitman and based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, LABOR DAY tells the story of an escaped convict (Brolin) who seeks shelter with a single mom (Winslet) and her young son over a long Labor Day weekend.

The film marks the fourth collaboration for Jason Reitman and Paramount. His latest film “Young Adult,” starring Charlize Theron, will hit theaters on December 9, 2011. The studio previously released his Academy-Award® nominated “Up in the Air” in 2010. Earning over $160 million world-wide, the movie earned six Academy-Award® nominations, and five Golden Globe nominations, with Reitman taking home the Golden Globe for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Indian Paintbrush, Mr. Mudd and Right of Way Films also produced the upcoming Paramount Vantage film “Jeff, Who Lives At Home,” starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms. Directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, the movie is set for release in March 2012 and will have its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin are repped at CAA. WME reps Jason Reitman and Mr. Mudd.


ABOUT PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Paramount Television & Digital Distribution.

ABOUT INDIAN PAINTBRUSH
Indian Paintbrush, a film development/production/finance company, is currently in production on THE UNTITLED DRAKE DOREMUS PROJECT starring Guy Pearce, Amy Ryan and Felicity Jones. Indian Paintbrush and Paramount Pictures acquired Doremus' LIKE CRAZY at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize as well as a Special Grand Jury Prize for Felicity Jones and Paramount Vantage will release the film on October 28, 2011. Indian Paintbrush is in post-production on: Lorene Scafaria’s SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley to be released by Focus; Wes Anderson’s next feature, MOONRISE KINGDOM, starring Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton, also distributed by Focus; and THE UNTITLED DAVID CHASE PROJECT with James Gandolfini, Brad Garrett, Bella Heathcote, Christopher McDonald, Molly Price and Lisa Lampanelli to be distributed by Paramount. Previously, Indian Paintbrush co-financed and executive produced Anderson’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX and THE DARJEELING LIMITED.

Juno's Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody Reteam on "Young Adult"

Press release:

PARAMOUNT ACQUIRES WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO REITMAN AND CODY’S “YOUNG ADULT”

The film begins principal photography in NY this month

HOLLYWOOD, CA (October 7, 2010) – Paramount Pictures has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Mandate Pictures’ YOUNG ADULT from Academy Award®-nominated director Jason Reitman and Academy Award®-winning writer Diablo Cody. Academy-Award® winning actress Charlize Theron (“Monster,” “The Road”) stars alongside Golden Globe nominee Patrick Wilson (Angels in America, the upcoming “Morning Glory”) and Patton Oswalt (“Ratatouille”).

The movie will be produced by Academy-Award® nominated producers Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith of Mr. Mudd Productions, Mason Novick, Diablo Cody, Jason Reitman through his film banner Right of Way Films and Denver & Delilah Films. Nathan Kahane, John Malkovich, Helen Estabrook and Steven Rales will executive produce. Mary Lee, Kelli Konop, Brian Bell and Beth Kono will co-produce. Paramount’s David Beaubaire, will run point for the studio.

YOUNG ADULT marks the second collaboration for these filmmakers. Reitman, Mr. Mudd, Mandate, Novick and Cody had an enormously successful partnership on JUNO. The film, directed by Reitman and written by Cody, garnered a host of accolades, including an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay and three Academy Award® nominations for Best Motion Picture (Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers), Best Actress, and Best Director. The $227 million box-office and critical sensation was released by Fox Searchlight in late 2007.

The film also marks the third collaboration for Reitman and Paramount. The studio released his Academy-Award® nominated “Up in the Air” last year. Earning over $160 million world-wide, the movie earned six Academy-Award® nominations, and five Golden Globe nominations, with Reitman taking home the Golden Globe for Best Adapted Screenplay. Reitman next produces the upcoming Paramount Pictures film “Jeff Who Lives At Home,” starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms, and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, to be released in 2011.

“We immediately jumped at the chance to work with Jason again,” said Paramount Film Group President Adam Goodman. “He’s one of the most talented filmmakers working today and look forward to this next collaboration.”

Dan Freedman, SVP of Business and Legal Affairs, negotiated all deals for Mandate Pictures.


ABOUT PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

ABOUT MANDATE PICTURES
Mandate Pictures is a multifaceted film production and financing company with a distinguished reputation and proven track record of success and profitability. Acquired by Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) in 2007, Mandate continues to operate as an independent brand delivering acclaimed commercial and independent films worldwide. Under President Nathan Kahane, Mandate has carved out a unique position in the film industry, having the creative autonomy and capital to finance, develop, package and produce theatrical films such as the Academy Award®-nominated film, JUNO, directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody and starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. Mandate’s most recent film THE SWITCH, starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, was released by Miramax Films on August 20, 2010; upcoming films include an untitled comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, which will be distributed by Summit Entertainment in 2011.

Solid Performances, Excellent Directing Shape "Up in the Air"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux


Up in the Air (2009)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman
WRITERS: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (based on the novel by Walter Kirn)
PRODUCERS: Jeffrey Clifford, Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman, and Jason Reitman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Eric Steelberg (director of photography)
EDITOR: Dana E. Glauberman
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, Danny McBride, J.K. Simmons, Sam Elliot, Zach Galifianakis, and Marvin Young (Young MC)

When I first heard all the praise for the 2009 film, Up in the Air, from director Jason Reitman (Juno), I was skeptical. Now, I have finally seen the film, and I like it. I like it a lot. Up in the Air is one of those “movies of the moment” that speak to our times, but this one works because it has excellent actors creating characters the audience will like and some may even love.

Up in the Air focuses on Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), who works for Career Transition Counseling out of Omaha, Nebraska. The job requires him to travel around the country and visit companies where he fires employees so that their bosses don’t have to do it. Ryan loves his life up in the air, and he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles. Ryan is also a motivational speaker who encourages people to live a life free of relationships and without attachments to things. But change is coming.

First, Ryan’s boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), hires a new employee, an ambitious recent college grad, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick). Natalie proposes that the company ground the employees and conduct layoffs (firings) over the Internet. Secondly, Ryan meets another frequent flyer, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), and they begin a casual sexual relationship. Ryan’s younger sister, Julie Bingham (Melanie Lynskey), is getting married, and Ryan’s been invited, although he isn’t really part of his family’s life anymore. Now, Ryan is starting to make connections, but will that be enough to make him give up living a life with nothing and with nobody?

Whatever Up in the Air’s philosophy may be, it relies on good performances and engaging characters to sell it, especially the three major characters: Ryan, Natalie, and Alex. George Clooney is one of the few modern actors who remind me of movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Like Humphrey Bogart, Clooney seems to be playing himself, but he is so good as an actor that he makes us believe that he can be any character, from a fisherman (The Perfect Storm) to a brilliant con man (Ocean’s Eleven). Clooney sells us Ryan Bingham, and instead of coming across as shallow, Ryan comes across as a solid guy with real motivation and personality.

Vera Farmiga usually delivers deceptively smooth performances that, combined with her unique, not-cookie cutter beauty, make for attractive, even alluring characters. Alex Goran is a mysterious, rich with many layers, and Farmiga makes us want to peel back all those layers. Anna Kendrick also turns Natalie, who could have been an annoyance, into someone charming and engaging. Whenever Natalie walks away from the camera, the movie seems lonesome without her.

Perhaps, the lion’s share of the credit should go to director Jason Reitman, a major new talent. Everything about this movie works, and the director is the one who has to bring out the best in his cast and crew. Up in the Air, with its themes of loneliness, disconnected people, shallow relationships, and corporate callousness could have been a downer. When it depicts people getting fired, the movie seems too close to home, but that is a testament the sense of verisimilitude here. The truth is that Up in the Air is timeless because it tells us a story we recognize, in one way or another, and gives us characters with which we identify, in part or in whole.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2010 Academy Awards: 6 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman, and Jason Reitman), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Jason Reitman), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (George Clooney), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Vera Farmiga), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Anna Kendrick), “Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner)

2010 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner); 5 nominations: “Best Editing” (Dana E. Glauberman), “Best Film” (Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, and Daniel Dubiecki), “Best Leading Actor” (George Clooney), “Best Supporting Actress” (Vera Farmiga), “Best Supporting Actress” (Anna Kendrick)

2010 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner); 5 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Jason Reitman), “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (George Clooney), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Vera Farmiga), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Anna Kendrick)

Review: Aaron Eckhart Lights it Up in "Thank You for Smoking"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 229 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Thank You for Smoking (2005)
Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman
WRITER: Jason Reitman (based upon the novel by Christopher Buckley)
PRODUCER: David O. Sacks
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jason Whitaker (director of photography)
EDITOR: Dana E. Glauberman
Golden Globes nominee

COMEDY with elements of drama

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Sam Elliot, Katie Holmes, David Koechner, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons, and Robert Duvall, Kim Dickens, Adam Brody, and Todd Louiso

As Vice-President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the main lobbyist and primary spin doctor for Big Tobacco. Naylor is on a mission to make the country forget the dangers and health risks of smoking cigarettes. However, his mission gets tougher with health advocates and the opportunistic Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre (William H. Macy) determined to put a new poison label (in the form of an image of the skull & bones) on cigarette packs. Naylor goes on the PR offensive with a strategy to get big Hollywood actors to smoke on screen, as the movie stars of yesteryear did in the Golden Age of Hollywood movies. Nick enlists, Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe), a Hollywood super-agent, to help him get smoking on screen again.

However, Nicky’s newfound notoriety does not go unnoticed by Big Tobacco’s head honcho, The Captain (Robert Duvall), who gives his blessing to Nick’s Hollywood plan. Nick’s activities also get the attention of a beautiful, young investigative reporter, Heather Halloway (Katie Holmes), who is willing to use her body to get Nick to tell her his secrets. Even with a busy schedule, Nick still finds time to hold forth with two comrades – two other lobbyists for industries also facing public backlash: Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) of the alcohol industry and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) of the gun industry. Together, the three of them are the Merchants of Death or M.O.D. Squad. Nick’s also a father, and he’s trying to remain a role model to his young, impressionable son, Joey Naylor (Cameron Bright), who thinks his dad is a god, but Nick’s ex-wife, Jill Naylor (Kim Dickens), isn’t sure a tobacco lobbyist is the best dad material.

Jason Reitman, the son of famed comedy director, Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), has a more cerebral approach to film comedy than his father, and that’s clearly evident in the clever, offhand satire, Thank You for Smoking, which Reitman adapted from the novel by Christopher Buckley. The film comes across as a savage satire of the tobacco industry, but Reitman directs the film with such elegance that Thank You for Smoking sometimes comes across as glib and soulless. In his attempt to impale Big Tobacco, and also throw sand in the face of shallow Hollywood, opportunistic big media, and shameless Congress, Reitman’s movie ends up gabby and has no real villains. This is a satire that comes across as if it’s teasing its targets rather than criticizing them.

While Thank You for Smoking holds up the characters and subject matter for detached scrutiny, the cast isn’t afraid to get down and dirty. The actors take delight in revealing the characters for all their oily selfishness. They’re all out for their own interests, and what little guilt they feel merely adds a light pungent flavor to the characters. The best performance is delivered, of course, by Aaron Eckhart as the film’s protagonist/quasi-villain, Nick Naylor. A character actor who can play an amazing range of lead characters, Eckhart gives Thank You for Smoking its gift of gab. Eckhart’s screen chemistry with Cameron Bright, the young actor who plays Nick’s son, Joey, is supernaturally real. It’s like a real father and son duo.

Eckhart humanizes Naylor, and makes the viewer like him and want to engage him. Thank You for Smoking is well-written and well-directed (considering the inexperience of the director), and the technical aspects are pretty good. But it’s Aaron Eckhart who makes Thank You for Smoking something more than just another satirical film essay. He makes it memorable.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, November 06, 2006

NOTES:
2007 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Aaron Eckhart)

--------------------------------

Countdown to Oscar 2010: National Board of Review Awards 2009

From the National Board of Review:

UP IN THE AIR NAMED 2009 BEST FILM OF THE YEAR BY THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW


New York, NY – December 3rd, 2009 – The National Board of Review named Up In The Air the 2009 Best Film of the Year. Directed by Jason Reitman, Up In The Air is the timely odyssey of Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection.

Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review:

Best Film: UP IN THE AIR

Best Director: CLINT EASTWOOD, Invictus

Best Actors: Tie
GEORGE CLOONEY, Up In The Air
MORGAN FREEMAN, Invictus

Best Actress: CAREY MULLIGAN, An Education

Best Supporting Actor: WOODY HARRELSON, The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress: ANNA KENDRICK, Up In The Air

Best Foreign Language Film: A PROPHET

Best Documentary: THE COVE

Best Animated Feature: UP

Best Ensemble Cast: IT’S COMPLICATED

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: JEREMY RENNER, The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: GABOUREY SIDIBE, Precious

Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut:
DUNCAN JONES, Moon
OREN MOVERMAN, The Messenger
MARC WEBB, (500) Days of Summer

Best Original Screenplay: JOEL AND ETHAN COEN, A Serious Man

Best Adapted Screenplay: JASON REITMAN and SHELDON TURNER, Up In The Air

Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: WES ANDERSON, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

William K. Everson Film History Award: JEAN PICKER FIRSTENBERG

NBR Freedom of Expression:
BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
INVICTUS
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

TEN BEST FILMS (in alphabetical order):
AN EDUCATION
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
INVICTUS
THE MESSENGER
A SERIOUS MAN
STAR TREK
UP
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Five Best Foreign-Language Films (in alphabetical order):
THE MAID
REVANCHE
SONG OF SPARROWS
THREE MONKEYS
THE WHITE RIBBON

Five Best Documentaries (in alphabetical order):
BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
CRUDE
FOOD, INC.
GOOD HAIR
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

Top Ten Independent Films (in alphabetical order):
AMREEKA
DISTRICT 9
GOODBYE SOLO
HUMPDAY
IN THE LOOP
JULIA
ME AND ORSON WELLES
MOON
SUGAR
TWO LOVERS


“The NBR is very proud to announce its honorees for 2009 – a year in which filmmakers’ voices and visions were innovative, exciting and eclectic. We are thrilled to honor Jason Reitman’s bittersweet and poignant film, Up In The Air, with wonderfully strong performances, writing and direction,” said NBR President Annie Schulhof. “The NBR is looking forward to this year’s gala at Cipriani 42nd Street with Meredith Vieira joining us as the evening’s MC.”

This year the NBR screened over 300 films – 181 narratives, 79 documentaries, 46 foreign language films and 11 animated films. The NBR, founded on January 25th, 1909, was originally founded as an anti-censorship organization and continues to honor excellence and freedom of expression in filmmaking today. The 108 members include knowledgeable film enthusiasts, academics, filmmakers and students from the NY metropolitan area. Many of the student members are past recipients of the NBR student grant program which enables students and young filmmakers to finish their projects and exhibit their work.

The 2010 NBR Gala wAS held on January 12th at Cipriani’s 42nd St. in New York City. Meredith Vieira served as the Mistress of Ceremonies. Once again, the accounting firm of Lutz & Carr tabulated the actual ballots.


THE NBR
For more than a century, the National Board of Review has been committed to freedom of expression in the cinema. Originally established to fight government censorship of motion pictures, the NBR has championed many films of significant social impact. The NBR continues that commitment today with its annual William K. Everson Award for film history, so named for the signature film historian and educator of modern times, a long-time NBR member, as well as its annual freedom of expression award. The NBR also celebrates the filmmakers of tomorrow with student philanthropy, which supports young filmmakers with financial aid that enables honorees to complete projects and exhibit them at various film festivals. For more information please visit http://www.nbrmp.org/

HISTORY
The National Board of Review was founded in 1909 in New York City, just thirteen years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George McClennan's revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses Christmas Eve 1908 on the grounds that the new medium supposedly degraded the morals of the community. To assert their constitutional freedom of expression, theater owners, led by Marcus Loew, and film distributors (Edison Biograph, Pathe, and Gaumont), joined John Collier of The People's Institute at Cooper Union to establish a National Review Committee, an anti-censorship group, that endorsed films of merit and encouraged the new "art of the people." In 1919 the organization first selected its "10 best movies of the year." The NBR later published a magazine called Films in Review, which was the first publication devoted to critical discussion of film, counting among its contributors Harold Robbins, Dore Schary, Stephen Sondheim, Alfred Hitchcock, and Tennessee Williams. During the era of the Hollywood blacklist (when others were silent), Films in Review vigorously opposed film censorship. Movies released between 1920 and 1950 carried the legend "Passed by the National Board of Review."

http://www.nbrmp.org/

Writers Guild of America Honors "The Hurt Locker," "Up in the Air"

Last night (Saturday, February 20, 2010), The Writers Guild of America Awards went to Up in the Air (best adapted screenplay) and The Hurt Locker (best original screenplay), the films that were expected to win. Thus, both films are leading contenders to win the Oscars in those respective categories.


However, at the Oscars, The Hurt Locker will also be up against two films that were disqualified from guild competition – Inglourious Basterds and Up, although I don’t expect either to win in this category.

In its category, Up in the Air will face off against three films disqualified by the WGA, Oscar nominees: An Education, District 9 and In the Loop, although, again, I don’t expect Up in the Air to lose to any of these films.

2010 Writers Guild of America Award Winners:

SCREEN WINNERS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit Entertainment

Other nominees: (500) Days of Summer, A Serious Man, Avatar, and The Hangover

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures

Other nominees: Crazy Heart, Julie & Julia, Precious, and Star Trek.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
The Cove, Written by Mark Monroe; Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions


TELEVISION WINNERS

DRAMA SERIES
Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Andrew Colville, Kater Gordon, Cathryn Humphris, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Brett Johnson, Erin Levy, Marti Noxon, Frank Pierson, Robin Veith, Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner; AMC

COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tom Ceraulo, Vali Chandrasekaran, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Steve Hely, Matt Hubbard, Dylan Morgan, Paula Pell, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Josh Siegal, Ron Weiner, Tracey Wigfield; NBC

NEW SERIES
Modern Family, Written by Paul Corrigan, Sameer Gardezi, Joe Lawson, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Dan O'Shannon, Brad Walsh, Caroline Williams, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker; ABC

For a complete list of winners, visit http://www.wga.org/

Up in the Air Takes USC Screenwriting Honor

Up in the Air Soars with Scripter Win

USC Libraries Scripter Award goes to Up in the Air author Walter Kirn and screenwriters Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The author and screenwriters of Up in the Air took top honors at the 2010 USC Libraries Scripter Award ceremony. The film is based on Kirn’s 2001 tale about what he called “the spiritual distortions forced upon people by techno-capitalism.” Crazy Heart, District 9, An Education and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire rounded out the five Scripter finalists, which are also contending for Oscars in multiple categories. This year, four of the five Scripter finalists are competing for best picture and best adapted screenplay honors at the Academy Awards.

“This year’s field of 68 eligible adaptations was the largest in the history of Scripter”

The ceremony drew an audience of more than 300 to the University of Southern California’s Doheny Library on Saturday, February 6. Dean of the USC Libraries Catherine Quinlan served as emcee for the evening, as the literary, film and academic communities gathered to honor the winning writers.

Kirn, Reitman and Turner accepted the award from Quinlan, selection committee chair Naomi Foner, and Glenn Sonnenberg, president of the Friends of the USC Libraries.

Joking that writers usually only receive awards over the Internet, Kirn thanked Reitman and Turner for introducing his novel to new audiences. Reitman said, “Adaptation is an inherently collaborative act,” thanking Kirn for trusting him and Turner with his novel. “I’m thrilled that the USC Libraries have this award, since it speaks to how many writers work on films.”

Turner added that the Scripter ceremony encouraged conversations among Eric Roth, Steven Zaillian and other distinguished practitioners of his craft. “It’s so wonderful to be here with people who inspired me to be a screenwriter.”

Directed by Reitman, Up in the Air tells the story of Ryan Bingham—played by George Clooney—a “career transition counselor” who travels the country firing employees during corporate downsizings. Bingham’s quest to accumulate 10 million frequent-flier miles—seemingly the only thing of value in the anonymous landscapes of airports and business hotels—explores the moral and practical consequences of a life without ties. The film so far has garnered a Golden Globe Award for best screenplay, six Oscar nominations and six BAFTA nominations. Reitman and Turner are in contention for best adapted screenplay honors at the Oscar, BAFTA and Writers Guild ceremonies.

Kirn’s novel, written at the peak of the dot-com bubble, found new audiences with Reitman and Turner’s successful adaptation. In a recent article for The Daily Beast, “George Clooney Saved My Novel,” Kirn describes the unlikely series of events that led Reitman and Turner—and later Clooney—to “breathe big-screen life into Ryan Bingham’s cadaver.” Completing Up in the Air’s transition from page to screen, Kirn made a brief cameo in one of the film’s many airplane scenes.

Eric Roth received the 2010 Scripter Literary Achievement Award from screenwriter Steve Zaillian. The Oscar-winning screenwriter has earned critical acclaim for his adaptations of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Insider, Forrest Gump and Munich.

“The idea that words matter is what brings us all together here tonight,” said Roth, before recognizing the achievements of every finalist for this year’s Scripter Award. He spoke in particular about the inspiration he draws from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. “Not only is it the greatest novel in our language, but it’s a philosophy book, a book of sorrow…and a cinematic book, the movie inside Melville’s head. I discovered Moby Dick in the library, which was my home away from home when I was a pimply teen…Every day I discovered another treasure.”

Dean Quinlan thanked the Friends of the USC Libraries and all attendees, saying that Scripter supports the development of the USC Libraries’ collections and the library’s role as a place of discovery. Just as screenwriters adapt literary works for the screen, she said, “A great library invites exploration, encourages invention, and reveals a universe of knowledge that enriches us while broadening our perspectives on the world at large.”

“This year’s field of 68 eligible adaptations was the largest in the history of Scripter,” said Quinlan. “Our authors and screenwriters have created written work and films that are diverse in subject matter and form…and bold in their imaginative destinations. Our five finalists embody many creative mysteries, explore broad intellectual and emotional territory, and invite us into worlds that are all the more entrancing for being so foreign to our everyday experience.”

Foner spoke of the craft of film adaptation. “When done best,” she said. “It is more than a translation, but a new form. For film tells its stories in different ways. It engages its audience in a different kind of relationship.”

Glenn Sonnenberg, president of the Friends of the USC Libraries and a former USC trustee, co-founded the Scripter Award with Marjorie Lord Volk in 1988. Past Scripter winners include the authors and screenwriters of Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, Million Dollar Baby, The Hours, A Beautiful Mind, L.A. Confidential, The English Patient and Schindler’s List.

The USC Libraries welcomed Audi of America as the transportation sponsor for Scripter 2010. Audi generously made available a fleet of Q7 TDI clean-diesel vehicles to transport special guests to the black-tie gala. The Audi Q7 TDI clean diesel is one of America’s first highly efficient, seven-passenger luxury SUVs, offering U.S. drivers improved fuel economy and cleaner emissions. Visit www.audiusa.com for more information about the Q7 TDI and other Audi vehicles.

Final Draft, Inc. also supported Scripter 2010 by providing copies of Final Draft 8 to USC students. The libraries will make the script writing software available through the Leavey Library Multimedia Commons. Final Draft will complement the suite of authoring software the Multimedia Commons offers students and will provide a valuable tool for storytelling and completing coursework while drawing on the riches of the libraries’ collections. [END]