Everyone knows that cigarettes are bad for you. If you doubt that, why do audiences laugh at the 1950's cigarette ads in George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck? Cigarettes contributed to Edward R. Murrow's premature death and to thousands of other addicts, but that doesn't mean that the most effective way to combat tobacco is through a 60 Minutes style expose. Satirically slashing through the smoke rings spun by the tobacco lobby, director Jason Reitman delivers Thank You for Smoking in the same spirit as Saturday Night Live (during its peak years of Belushi, Aykroyd, Radner, & company).

Professional tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) officially serves as spokesperson for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, and uses his likability and gifts for verbal spin dynamically. Early on, he is the invited "villain" on The Joan Lunden Show, seated next to bald-headed 15-year old Robin, who is dying from lung cancer. Naylor deftly turns the tables on his anti-smoking stage rivals by declaring that the tobacco industry wants to keep smokers like Robin alive—that it's in their best interests. "The anti-smoking people want Robin to die," he declares, citing how this would play into their self interests.

Naylor is great at what he does. As he describes his profession: "Michael Jordan plays ball. Charlie Manson kills people. I talk." Naylor uses his verbal dexterity throughout, even unleashing it with subtle charm during a career day presentation in his son's elementary school class when a young girl asserts that her mother says that cigarettes can kill you. "Oh, is your mother a doctor? ... A scientific researcher of some kind?" The girl is easily disarmed; we are once again amused by the cleverness of Reitman's clever screenplay and Eckhart's flawless delivery.

As optimistic and positive as any successful CEO, Naylor isn't perfect, however. His personal life doesn't match his professional life, as most clearly illustrated by his divorced state. He also easily reveals inside information to newspaper reporter Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes) that nearly destroys his career—a result of talking far too much when in the throes of sexual passion. Despite personal flaws, Naylor remains a godlike hero to his son Joey (Cameron Bright), who eagerly seeks and accepts his father's advice. Joey learns life lessons by accompanying his father on a business trip and adopts his attitude to win a scholastic debating contest -- "If you argue right, you ARE right."

Although Eckhart clearly carries the narrative, the film works largely due to the skills of the large ensemble cast that act as separate skits and add humorous variety. Most prominent is the small Washington D.C. group that Naylor joins weekly for lunch. Calling themselves the MOD squad (which stands for Merchants of Death), the other two are alcohol lobbyist Polly Bailey (Maria Bellow) and firearms lobbyist Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner). Dark humor abounds as they argue over which industry best practices "population control," or commiserate over strategy to overcome their latest obstacle—the alcohol lobbyist has a tough task overcoming a deformed baby issue.

Another highlight takes place in Hollywood as Naylor visits movie agent Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe) to gain prominent product placement. Cigarettes just aren't making a good impression in modern movies, as Reitman astutely references in their tightly scripted dialog. They note that only villains and Europeans smoke, so the tobacco industry wants positive box office clout to promote their product—millions of production money would back a deal for a big time smoking role model. Megall astutely asserts that the movie would have to avoid the modern era because people would question why the good guy is smoking, so they must think of period pieces or venture into the future—cigarettes in space. So, he'll talk to Sony about having Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta Jones chain smoke throughout their steamy futuristic flick.

Other good moments include William H. Macy as a crusading Vermont Senator, who wants to require oversized skull & crossbones warnings on cigarette packs, and Sam Elliott as Lorne Lutch, the original Marlboro Man who is currently lambasting the tobacco industry after being diagnosed with cancer. Both find themselves on the defense--Macy for his state's contributions to clogged arteries and Elliott attempting to decide how to deal with a generous gift offering. The latter is a moral quandary that expertly exposes basic human nature without overt preaching, and that ranks as a major strength of Reitman's entire film.

He never clobbers the audience over the head with his message, but provocatively delivers while entertaining us with a very smart and witty satire. Although the film drags slightly in the middle when Eckhart is briefly sidetracked with romantic interest, the tightly scripted comedy begins and ends strong. Thank You for Smoking delivers a breath of fresh air to the big screen--92 minutes of quality satire that match the tone of Tex Williams lively opening song from yesteryear, "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette!" Given a choice between lecture and laughter, it's not difficult to figure which direction a movie should take for higher audience share; and in this case, it's the most effective course.