"Michael Jordan plays basketball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk."
That's tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) explaining his role as chief spokesman for Big Tobacco in Reitman's marvelous adaptation of Christopher Buckley's satirical novel.
Nick has a gift for warping his opponents' arguments to be used against them -- "moral flexibility," he calls it -- and Eckhart is perfect in the role; Nick is a smooth-talking manipulator, and Eckhart delivers even his most ludicrous arguments with such ease and confidence that you could almost find yourself falling for them.
The rest of the cast is also top-notch, and what a cast it is: Maria Bello, William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe, Adam Brody, and Sam Elliott are all on hand; Lowe is particularly funny as a Hollywood talent agent. Reitman's smartest move is to expand the role of Nick's son, Joey (Cameron Bright, overdoing the precocious act a bit), who is a very minor character in the book; giving Nick someone to relate to in a more human (and humane) way makes it easier to take him at his most outlandish.
Very funny, and highly recommended.
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