I give this a Good. I liked it. I liked the performances by just about everyone, including William H. Macy and Aaron Eckhart. I thought the production values were a little bit iffy, a couple of times there were really jumpy edits, though that might have been my theater (it was a bad one). I like the idea that the skill of the argument is more important than the subject. That appeals to my sense of philosophical debate. I think the story was not about smoking, though I certainly think it took some good shots at the tobacco industry. I also think it poked fun at those who would ban smoking also, in the character of William H. Macy. I felt like those jibes were much less painful and offered more in the sense of laughing at ourselves. I think the real subject of the movie was that lobbyists are not bad people, they are just doing their jobs. I think that is a bit too morally ambiguous for me, but I am OK with the something good about everyone kind of angle. Bottom line, it was a fun ride, especially if you can disconnect a bit from the lobby=evil stream.
5 comments:
I got no beef with the performances or the produciton values. My beef is with the message (which is conveyed through tone as much as anything else). As I see it, the movie not only says that the tobacco lobbyists are not bad people, it says they are, in fact, better people because they are more fun and they are better looking and they are more talented argument-makers (and we are all hypocrites in the end, aren't we?).
I think the movie encourages viewers to disconnect from the "lobbyists=evil" stream.
Which is a lot different than encouraging viewers to disconnect from the tobacco=evil stream is what I am getting at. Perhaps I misread your review, but I got the impression that you thought the movie was soft on tobacco. Which it's not. It's just high on lobbyists.
Ah. Now I understand. Let me rephrase: I think the movie encourages viewers to disconnect from the "tobacco lobbyists=evil" stream.
i'd like for us to apply the critical eye of who turns out beautiful in the movies we watch, as beauty=better. i don't hear you guys making that criticism very often. i wonder if your favorite movies would stand up under that light.
I'm not sure what you mean Lisa.
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