Director: Jason Reitman, US, 15, 92min
Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy
On general release
Perhaps it is not quite the ruthless satirical evisceration that the subject matter no doubt deserves, but Reitman’s gleefully cynical debut film makes a hero out of a professional liar and takes well-aimed pot-shots at everything from spin-doctors to political correctness.
Advertisement
With his wholesome all- American looks and the deceitful dimple in his chin, Eckhart (above with Holmes) is perfectly cast as the smooth-talking Nick Naylor (named perhaps for the “coffin nails” he peddles). Naylor is a lobbyist for the tobacco industry, and his job is to flip unflattering news stories on their heads. As his boss points out, the product itself is a gift: “They’re cool, they’re available and they’re addictive — the job is almost done for us.”
Nonetheless, the inconvenient links to cancer and terminal disease keep piling up and, as the smiling apologist for a product that kills, Nick has become something of a pariah. The amount of hate mail sent to Nick and his lobbying colleagues (nicknamed the MOD Squad, an acronym for Merchants of Death), tells them that they’re doing their jobs well. But Nick is also a father, and in his more pensive moments he wonders what kind of an example he is setting for his son. As a conciliatory measure, he takes the boy on a bonding trip to Los Angeles where he has to negotiate product placement in movies (a brilliantly observed segment starring Lowe and The OC’s Adam Brody) and sweet-talk a litigious cancer patient.
Although the film is sharp and funny, nothing quite matches the savagery of the scenes in the shark tank of a Hollywood agency. It’s a pity that this blood lust doesn’t extend to the rest of the film which, particularly by the end, seems afraid to show its teeth. Another problem is the casting of Holmes as an alluring reporter — her now inextricable link to the Crazy Tom Cruise sofa leaping incident rather spoils her seductress credentials. Still, there is plenty of fun to be had, and a film that never lets little things such as political correctness or ethical responsibility get in the way of a good joke has to be admired.