Nick Naylor is a charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.
The picture is obviously a satire, but it has no sharpness, no sense of daring.
– Stephanie Zacharek,
Salon.com,
7 Oct 2006
rotten:
Aiming at all targets and hitting none of them, the movie is as harmless and inconsequential as a candy cigarette.
– Jessica Winter,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
Even the good lines here last a self-congratulatory beat too long.
– David Edelstein,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
12 May 2006
fresh:
Deliciously nasty, naughty satire.
– Roger Moore,
Orlando Sentinel,
7 Apr 2006
fresh:
Reitman, still in his 20s, knows something that many more seasoned directors never figure out: how to make audiences laugh along with a film that's laughing at itself.