Thank You For Smoking

I watched "Thank You For Smoking" last night and was quite impressed. It's basically the story of a divorced father of a 12-ish yr old boy who happens to be a very successful spokesperson for Big Tobacco. You want to hate the guy, but you end up loving him because he's so damn good at it, and you are able to believe (just barely) that he's a decent guy and a good father under all that smooth talking. The movie has at least 3 things going for it:

1. Great writing. The dialogue was crisp, funny, and kept the film moving at a good pace.
2. Great cast. Every character is superbly played, with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek. Aaron Eckhart is a genius. I can't see Katie Holmes these days without thinking "crazy woman" (mostly because of Tom Cruise) but she was also pretty good.
3. Great cinematography. I don't even know if that's the right word for it, but the editing, the little flourishes and stylizations, the asides and willingness to play around made the movie a lot of fun to watch. It just had this great, quirky personality, kind of like Scrubs mixed with The Daily Show with a splash of Will Ferrell.

In short, I highly recommend it.