Movie review - "Thank You for Smoking" (2006) **1/2

So wanted to enjoy this film more than I did - such a rich topic of satire, and the idea of making the hero a tobacco lobbyist is fresh and wickedly delightful. But as is the case when other young filmmakers try to enter Wilder territory (eg the Weitzes), something has gone wrong - I think it was the plot maybe which has Aaron Eckhardt trying to persuade Hollywood producers to put more cigarettes in films. Don't they do that anyway? (Hollywood agent is played by Rob Lowe who surely must have had aspirations to play the lead himself, it's up his alley - I guess he hasn't comeback that much just yet.) Maybe I don't like movies where the big plot twist is someone... writing an article. Then getting back on that person... by speaking at a press conference. Maybe the film simply didn't have the guts to go hard core. Maybe it lacks a point of view (I'm sorry but those "hey it's hypocritical" arguments are boring - how do you reconcile libertarianism with passive smoking?). Despite a fine cast, the result was a bit flaccid.