Film 101 (Goal: 300) of 2024

Thank You for Smoking is a clever satire of American Government, the movie industry and the media, among other things. The film has a fantastic cast, including (but not limited to) Katie Holmes, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, J.K. Simmons. But the film is anchored by an excellent leading man performance from Aaron Eckhart (before The Dark Knight). More modern ensemble films have cameos for the sake of cameos, at the expensive of connective story. This however puts the narrative first, and it leads to better opportunities and performances when the casts members step in.

While Thank You for Smoking is witty and clever, the film begins with such explosive energy, in it's dialogue, it's editing and it's production that by the time the 2nd act really kicks in, and the drama begins to take shape, that the second half of the film feels like a completely different film all together. And while it's still well acted, directed, etc. it just does not maintain that energy that made the first half so vibrant. It's not so much that it feels like a film of two halves, but if you asked me to choose only half the film to watch for the rest of my life - I'm picking the first half, every single time.