Satire with teeth, discolored though they may be. There is nothing exceptional cinematically about the directing debut of Jason Reitman, son of the mainstream comedy director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and the like), but from the opening credits -- the witty cigarette-pack graphic motif, Tex Williams's C&W oldie, "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette," in the background -- his savvy adaptation of the Christopher Buckley novel does everything it set out to do. It delivers, in the phraseology of a cigarette ad, full rich flavor. Decidedly smoky, dry, sharp, acid, with a bitter aftertaste. It centers on a tobacco-industry lobbyist, the self-described "Colonel Sanders of Nicotine," a role that returns Aaron Eckhart to the friendly climate of his name-making film, In the Company of Men, where his hard-hearted charm, his machine-gun glibness, his immunity to self-doubt, can properly flourish. (The meaty face, the steely eyes, the sneering lips do not fit him for roles of sensitivity.) The surrounding cast is studded with true stalwarts, William H. Macy as the sanctimonious U.S. Senator from Vermont ("Where the Cheddar Is Better") who is pushing for a skull-and-crossbones warning on all cigarette packs; Robert Duvall as the industry's grand old man with his private jet, Tobacco One; J.K. Simmons as a conscienceless yes-man; and Sam Elliott as the cancer-ridden original Marlboro Man. (Maria Bello, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, and Adam Brody are in there, too.) The plot angle of pitching Hollywood on the idea of making cigarettes sexy again seems a little unimaginative, or rather, unobservant. Hollywood, like France, like Spain, has remained one of the last bastions of resistance against the anti-smoking movement, defiantly puffing away on screen, defending to the death the right of free choice. (There is pointedly no puffing on screen here: overprotection against charges of hypocrisy.) But this angle nonetheless leads profitably to the inner sanctum of Entertainment Global Offices (EGO), the orientalist lair of a Michael Ovitz-type superagent: "Jeff invented product placement." Further plot mechanics, although no more ingenious, never get to be a grind. At a brisk hour and a half, the film can be safely recommended to all who like their comedy unfiltered. (2006) — Duncan Shepherd