rated R – Based on the book by novelist Christopher Buckley, comes a part documentary – part movie, that feels like a cross between “Fahrenheit 9/11” for its politics, and “The Squid and the Whale” because of its father/son dynamics, Nick Naylor (Aaaron Eckhart) is the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies a.k.a. Satan, and a father, just trying to look good in his son’s eyes. An all star kooky cast includes Cameron Bright as Eckhart’s son, Maria Bello as a fellow cigrette-smoking employee, Katie Holmes as a backstabbing journalist, Rob Lowe as the scene-stealing agent (a spoof on Mike Ovitz of CAA and worth the price of admission alone), Robert Duvall as the Captain, and William H Macy as Senator Finistirre, who “wants a poison label on every pack of cigarettes.” Hilariously funny from the first frame, this concocted approach to why it’s okay to smoke, is a complete 360 from Al Pacino and Russell Crowe’s performances, in the very serious Oscar acclaimed 1999 “The Insider” about the investigation of the tobacco industry. This is the directing debut of Jason Reitman (son of director Ivan Reitman) and premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film festival. Three Tiaras
