The debut feature from director Jason Reitman, “Thank You For Smoking,” is a blistering satire more reminiscent of the American New Wave than anything produced in this century. Given the hypersensitive PC world in which we now live, it’s unlikely this movie could even be made today.
Based on the 1994 novel of the same name by Christopher Buckley (the son of William F. Buckley, Jr.), Mr. Reitman’s screenplay is less about the “danger” of legal “vices” (alcohol, tobacco, and firearms) than it is a commentary on free speech, free will, and the imposing of arbitrary morality from those who exhibit little or none of the same.
