Thank You For Smoking

[SiliasRuby]

Despite Mod's comments I saw this today and was throughly entertained and happy with it, but again, nothing that can't wait.

[pete]

I saw it last weekend, it had some really sharp one-liners, but I was generally disappointed with the fact that the film didn't satirize much--it made fun of hollywood, and then the whole media culture of "spin", while letting the lobbyiests in general walk away relatively harmlessly.  it was all style but no guts.

[bonanzataz]

yes. agreed. a lot of inconsistent style that got in the way of what could have been a really good movie. the trailer is hilarious, but it is, alas, nothing more than a spin itself. it was very competently written, but something about it seemed to be lacking. also, it bugged me that the lead character is supposed to be a smoker, yet nobody, not even him, smokes one cigarette throughout the entire movie. that was just weird.

the lady behind us sitting by herself laughing really loudly and talking to the screen, however, made up for the film's flaws in abundance.

[Reinhold]

yes. agreed. a lot of inconsistent style that got in the way of what could have been a really good movie. the trailer is hilarious, but it is, alas, nothing more than a spin itself. it was very competently written, but something about it seemed to be lacking. also, it bugged me that the lead character is supposed to be a smoker, yet nobody, not even him, smokes one cigarette throughout the entire movie. that was just weird.

the lady behind us sitting by herself laughing really loudly and talking to the screen, however, made up for the film's flaws in abundance.

what he said. even the part about the lady talking to the screen, except that she was sitting in the same row.

[MacGuffin]

NBC takes up 'Smoking'
Peacock to 'Thank' satire
Source: Variety

NBC is lighting up a TV spin on "Thank You for Smoking."

Rick Cleveland ("Six Feet Under") is aboard to write and exec produce the small-screen version of the indie pic. David O. Sacks, who produced the film, will exec produce the TV take via Room 9 Entertainment and NBC U Television Studio.

Christopher Buckley, who wrote the book on which the movie was based, will serve as a consulting producer.

Peacock version of "Smoking" is being developed as a single-camera laffer focusing on Nick Naylor, the superstar spin doctor who, as played by Aaron Eckhart in the movie, did PR for big tobacco. TV take will pick up where the feature left off, with Naylor running his own firm.

"The idea is that there's a never-ending array of clients he could have," Sacks told Daily Variety. "But it has to be something where Nick is on the wrong or unpopular side of things."

Potential clients could include fast-food companies, environmental polluters or politicos caught with their pants down.

"The reason the movie resonated so much was that it wasn't about just one particular issue," Sacks said. "It's about PR as a culture, about the way we spin issues."

As in the movie, the small-screen "Smoking" will show Naylor balancing his conflicting responsibilities as a PR person and as a dad.

Original "Thank You for Smoking," released earlier this year by Fox Searchlight, has grossed nearly $25 million in the U.S.

[pete]

and it's all gonna be safe and self-effacing, without much if any actual stance on any issue where the joke is always on the idea that spin doctors find ingenius ways to articulate things!
EFF THAT BALLLESS ISH.
I swear that's what the show is going to be.