"Why are we here?" a client asks.
Beneath the political commentary, Thank You for Smoking is a film about fatherhood. The heart of the movie is Nick’s relationship with his son, Joey. Nick wants to be a role model, but he struggles to reconcile his toxic profession with his parental duties.
In a pivotal scene, Nick asks his son, "If I told you that chocolate ice cream was the best ice cream, and you said no, vanilla is, would I be wrong?"
Nearly two decades after its release, the film feels less like a satire of the tobacco industry and more like a documentary on the state of modern communication.