Lawyers are often asked how they can act for clients who are clearly bad people who ought to be in jail. Once the arguments like "everyone is entitled to a fair trial" and "everyone is presumed innocent" are swept aside, it usually gets down to "well, I've got a mortgage to pay." So it is for lobbyists for unpopular industries. There is no legal industry more unpopular than Big Tobacco and in this film Aaron Eckhart plays with great relish, Nick Naylor, a superb operator with absolutely no shame who prosecutes Big Tobacco's cause at venues ranging from grade school classes to congressional committees.
First time director Reitman derived his screenplay from Christopher Buckley's 1994 book, and in the book there is a deeper motivation than the "must pay the mortgage" defence. Chris Buckley happens to be the son of the wealthy right-wing columnist and political gadfly William F Buckley and Chris shares his father's politics to some degree. If you are against the state telling people what to do (ie, not smoke) it is logical to support the tobacco companies, who, after all are only providing a substance people are free not to use. The problem with this libertarian position is of course externalities others are affected by the smoker's actions through passive smoking and the state will still have to foot the bill for the smoker's medical treatment. So unless our smoker is going to smoke only with other smokers (or alone) and is prepared to pay for their medical treatment, the state has an interest.
This issue is only lightly alluded to in what is a very clever, witty, snappily directed and rather superficial satire on lobbyists for pariah industries. The film does come close to being serious when Nick takes his perceptive 12 year old son Joey (wonderfully played by Cameron Bright) to various work engagements. How can a lobbyist for big tobacco justify what he does to his son? He does it, but I won't spoil your enjoyment of the movie by telling you how.
The satire here is not subtle, and some of the performances border on caricature. William H Macy, however, as the anti-tobacco Senator for Vermont (home to cheese-created cholesterol), manages to avoid farce and produce a believable character.
Christopher Buckley was reportedly pleased with this film though I think his message was obscured somewhat by the pyrotechnics of Aaron Eckhart's performance. Perhaps those champions of individual freedom are actually sociopaths, using liberty as an excuse for doing bad. I don't like being told what to do, or telling other people what to do, but sometimes there is no other choice.
First time director Reitman derived his screenplay from Christopher Buckley's 1994 book, and in the book there is a deeper motivation than the "must pay the mortgage" defence. Chris Buckley happens to be the son of the wealthy right-wing columnist and political gadfly William F Buckley and Chris shares his father's politics to some degree. If you are against the state telling people what to do (ie, not smoke) it is logical to support the tobacco companies, who, after all are only providing a substance people are free not to use. The problem with this libertarian position is of course externalities others are affected by the smoker's actions through passive smoking and the state will still have to foot the bill for the smoker's medical treatment. So unless our smoker is going to smoke only with other smokers (or alone) and is prepared to pay for their medical treatment, the state has an interest.
This issue is only lightly alluded to in what is a very clever, witty, snappily directed and rather superficial satire on lobbyists for pariah industries. The film does come close to being serious when Nick takes his perceptive 12 year old son Joey (wonderfully played by Cameron Bright) to various work engagements. How can a lobbyist for big tobacco justify what he does to his son? He does it, but I won't spoil your enjoyment of the movie by telling you how.
The satire here is not subtle, and some of the performances border on caricature. William H Macy, however, as the anti-tobacco Senator for Vermont (home to cheese-created cholesterol), manages to avoid farce and produce a believable character.
Christopher Buckley was reportedly pleased with this film though I think his message was obscured somewhat by the pyrotechnics of Aaron Eckhart's performance. Perhaps those champions of individual freedom are actually sociopaths, using liberty as an excuse for doing bad. I don't like being told what to do, or telling other people what to do, but sometimes there is no other choice.