22 March, 2006
Please find a selection of quotes from reviews of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING in the US media.
What some monthly magazines have to say:
ROLLING STONE – NY “This stinging satire is easily the best and wickedest comedy of the new year.” Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE PREMIERE – NY “…Aaron Eckhart at his most hilariously slick…” Glenn Kenny, PREMIERE VANITY FAIR – NY “very funny”, “refreshing” Bruce Handy, VANITY FAIR MAXIM – LA “This movie should carry it’s own warning label: Beware! ‘Thank You For Smoking’ just might make you laugh your head off!” Pete Hammond, MAXIM INTERVIEW – NY “a furious, funny, and idiosyncratic piece of work.” Stephen Mooallem, INTERVIEW VOGUE – NY “a breezily cynical comedy about the business of lying.” VOGUE ELLE – NY “impressive”, “a sassy, take-no-prisoners comedy”, “an equal-opportunity offender, sinking its sharp satirical teeth into everything that moves.”, “THANK YOUF FOR SMOKING has a chilling point to make – namely, that in a culture where spin is the main mode of disclosure, people gradually cease to believe in the possibility of truth.”, “A sassy, take no-prisoners comedy that sinks its sharp satirical teeth into everything that moves.” Karen Durbin, ELLE O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE – NY Rebecca Rothbaum “a terrific, biting comedy.” – Rebecca Rothbaum, O MAGAZINE “must-see” – Rebecca Rothbaum, O MAGAZINE “a keenly observed, stylishly filmed satire.” – Rebecca Rothbaum, O MAGAZINE
What some weeklies have to say:
NEWSWEEK – NY Jonathan Alter “a hilarious and gloriously politically incorrect sendup of Washington’s culture of shameless spin.” Jonathan Alter, NEWSWEEK US WEEKLY – NY “Hilariously un-P.C.” Thelma Adams, US WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY – NY “impressive.”, “excellent cast headed by a pitch-perfect Aaron Eckhart.”, “…a confident feature-film debut for writer-director Jason Reitman…” Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY PEOPLE – NY “a clever comedy”, “hilariously snarky”, “fast-moving”, “hilariously snarky, fast-moving film”, “Eckhart is perfect”, “Holmes displays a smarmy charm”, “a clever comedy that turns a knowing eye on the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., Hollywood, and corporate America.”, “3.5 stars” Leah Rozen, PEOPLE US WEEKLY – NY “Hilarious: politically incorrect in the very best way!” Thelma Adams, US WEEKLY NEW YORK – LA “a slashingly hilarious comedy.” Ken Tucker, NEW YORK NEW YORKER – NY ” (a) shrewdly entertaining satirical comedy…”, “Jason Reitman’s direction is fast-moving and witty; the movie is a winner.”, “Shrewdly entertaining satirical comedy… fast-moving and witty. The movie is a winner.”, “A winner!” – David Denby, NEW YORKER STAR – NY “Eckhart is hilariously slippery and glib.”, “…this film has an edge of nasty humor that’s based on the notion that everyone lies for a living.”, “…has a delicious star-studded cast (including Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe and Maria Bello). They play the dark humor with enthusiasm, without winking at the audience.”, “Could be the smartest comedy of the year.”, “4 stars” STAR TIME OUT NEW YORK – NY “Shamelessly, even gleefully un-PC”, “a sociopolitical satire…downright exhilarating…” Josh Rothkopf, TIME OUT NEW YORK THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE “…witty centrist satire…”, “…it’s smart and entertaining…”, “…Aaron Echart is perfectly cast.” Steve Sailer, THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE THE NATION “Thank You for Smoking, a film that casts its roles with the thoroughgoing precision, the literal-mindedness, of a rich kid filling gaps in his baseball card collection” – Stuart Klawans, THE NATION
What some dailies have to say:
THE NEW YORK TIMES – NY “…an excellent Rob Lowe…”, “To watch and listen as Maria Bello (as an alcohol lobbyist), David Koechner (defending our right to bear semiautomatics), J. K. Simmons (Nick’s immediate boss), Robert Duvall (as a Big Tobacco legend) and an excellent Rob Lowe (as a Hollywood agent) put some topspin on their lines or execute a nice bit of business is to witness the satisfactions of a well-oiled movie machine.”, “Glibly funny and eager to please…”, “…the cast is exceptionally fine…a well-oiled movie machine.” – Manohla Dargis, THE NEW YORK TIMES LOS ANGELES TIMES – LA “Eckhart has never had a role thata as enjoyably suits his particular gifts as Nick Naylor…”, “a very smart and funny movie directed by Jason Reitman, who also shrewdly adapted the screenplay from Christopher Buckley’s savagely satiric novel.”, “that rare film that actually has a sense of humor.”, “..a role that uses more facets of Eckhart than any has before, and he knows what to do with it.”, “scenes are outright stolen by ‘The O.C.’ star Adam Brody as Megall’s uber-assistant, Jack Bein, an etched-in-cheerful-acid caricature that is killingly on the nose.”, “an unexpectedly entertaining film.” – Kenneth Turan, LA TIMES CHICAGO SUN TIMES – Field “There are broad satirical strokes and big laughs, but watch how its anger stays focused”, “broad satirical strokes and big laughs” – Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN TIMES NY DAILY NEWS – NY “more fun than a turkey shoot. It’s also one of the most entertaining riffs on American culture in years.”, “one of the most entertaining riffs on American culture in years.”, “…it’s more fun than a turkey shoot…one of the most entertaining riffs on American culture in years.”, “Aaron Eckhart…gives a brilliantly convincing performance…” – Jack Matthews, NY DAILY NEWS NY POST – NY “…frequently funny satire…” – Kyle Smith, NEW YORK POST ASSOCIATED PRESS CANADA (synd) – NY “A marvel of perfect casting, crisp dialogue and biting wit, Thank You for Smoking is the first truly must-see, laugh out loud comedy of the year.” – Associated Press CANADA NEW YORK SUN – NY “…gets you hooked and leaves you wanting more, just like cigarettes that are the occasion of so much of its infectious humor.”, “…many funny bits that make the picture worth seeing.”, “…the film is fast-paced and never less than amusing, and as a satire on the public relations “industry,” it’s very enjoyable.” – James Bowman, NEW YORK SUN CHICAGO TRIBUNE – FIELD “sharply funny” – Mark Caro, CHICAGO TRIBUNE THE ONION – NY “Jason Reitman has a broad, anything-goes comedic sensibility”, “…memorable gallery of supporting performances…”, “scene-stealing Adam Brody”, “Thank You For Smoking has an unrelenting energy that never pauses for moral tongue-clucking.”, “Aaron Eckhart, the deliciously fatuous hero of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING”, “director Jason Reitman has a broad, anything-goes comedic sensibility that allows silly gags and incidental humor to sneak in alongside the satirical barbs. “, “…first-time director Jason Reitman has a broad, anything goes comedic sensibility…”, “…an unrelenting energy that never pauses for moral tongue-clucking.” – Scott Tobias, THE ONION AM NEW YORK ‘THANK YOU FOR SMOKING’ is a smart skewering of shameless spin doctoring…”, “…there’s no shortage of cathartic laughs…” – Jay Carr, AM NEW YORK CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR “…there is much to like in this movie, particularly the way it skewers the spin culture…”, “…enjoyable…” – Peter Rainer, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
For more quotes from TV, Online and other media, contact Judith Baugin