Thank You for Smoking

Everything John Rogers says about this movie is true. Go see it. Now.

It's easy for satire to go wrong, but Smoking gets it right. Even with all the voiceovers, subtitles, and other glamours, it never goes too over-the-top, never strays from its protagonist. From the opening titles-- designed to look like vintage cigarette packaging and accompanied by Tex Williams' "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette"-- to the unrepentant final scene, it's damn near perfect.

And as much as people decry nepotism in Hollywood, writer-director Jason Reitman (son of Ivan) has earned his stripes in my book. Let's hope he has better luck than Jake Kasdan (son of Lawrence), whose Zero Effect was brilliant but who hasn't had much luck since then.