Trama

Satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his 12-year-old son.

The chief spokesperson and lobbyist Nick Naylor is the Vice President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies. He is talented in speaking and spins arguments to defend the cigarette industry in the most difficult situations. His best friends are Polly Bailey that works in the Moderation Council in alcohol business, and Bobby Jay Bliss of the gun business own advisory group SAFETY. They frequently meet each other in a bar and they self-title the M.O.D. Squad, a.k.a. Merchants of Death, disputing which industry has killed more people. Nick's greatest enemy is Vermont's Senator Ortolan Finistirre, who defends in the Senate the use of a skull and crossbones on cigarette packs. Nick's son Joey Naylor lives with his mother, and has the chance to know his father in a business trip. When the ambitious reporter Heather Holloway betrays Nick disclosing confidences he had in bed with her, his life turns upside-down. But Nick is good in what he does for the mortgage.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

As a Vice President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies, a Washington tobacco lobby masquerading as research organization debunking the health risks of tobacco use, Nick Naylor, a born communicator, is the public face of the tobacco lobby. As the Academy is funded by big tobacco, Nick is able to use the "research" to spin the messages for tobacco and against anyone who is anti-tobacco. Calling themselves the M.O.D. (Merchants of Death) Squad, he often meets unofficially with his fellow lobbyists Polly Bailey and Bobby Jay Bliss, who represent alcohol and firearms respectively, to discuss mutual strategies. As the biggest problem Nick and the tobacco lobby faces is declining smoking rates among youth, Nick comes up with a campaign to re-glamorize smoking in movies, which has the stumbling blocks of the highly public smoking-related health issues faced by former Marlboro man, Lorne Lutch, and Vermont Senator Ortolan Finistirre who is pushing for mandatory poison labeling of tobacco products. Nick hopes he can use his communication skills and charm to spin what looks to be an expose by Washington Probe reporter Heather Holloway in his favor. Through all these machinations, Nick is trying to re-establish a relationship with his preteen son, Joey Naylor, who lives with his mother and new stepfather. Joey wants to understand what his father truly does for a living, while Nick wants to set a good example for Joey while still staying true to his own beliefs of what he does for a living.—Huggo

Tobacco industry lobbyist Nick Naylor has a seemingly impossible task: promoting cigarette smoking in a time when the health hazards of the activity have become too plain to ignore. Nick, however, revels in his job, using argument and twisted logic to place, as often as not, his clients in the positions of either altruistic do-gooders or victims. Nick's son Joey needs to understand and respect his dad's philosophy, and Nick works hard to respond to that need without compromising his lack of values. When a beautiful news reporter betrays Nick's sexually-achieved trust, his world seems in danger of collapsing. But there's always one more coffin nail in Nick's pack.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) appears on Joan Lunden's daytime talk show, along with a doctor, a senator's aide, and a teenage boy with cancer. As he's introduced, the audience spits at him. The screen freezes, spittle in mid-air, while Naylor explains what he does for a living in a voice over. He works for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, and he represents Big Tobacco. The Academy is supposed to research links between disease and smoking and has never been able to find anything conclusive in 30 years of research work. Naylor fronts an organization that kills 1200 humans a day. Atilla killed 5 million people, Genghis was at 30 million, and the tobacco industry is at 30 million and counting. Captain (Robert Duvall) is the founder of the Academy for Tobacco Studies.

On Joan Lunden's show, he takes the offensive position. He protests that in no way would he want a potential customer to die and accuses the doctor of profiting off cancer patients. His immediate nemesis is Senator Ortolan Finisterre (William H. Macy), a Birkenstock-wearing Vermonter whose office is decorated with cheese and bottles of maple syrup. Senator Finisterre wants to plaster a graphic skull-and-crossbones picture on every pack of cigarettes.

Naylor and his friends, firearm lobbyist Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) (spokesman for S.A.F.E.T.Y (Society for the Advancement of Firearms and Effective Training for Youth)) and alcohol lobbyist Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) (the woman who got the Pope to endorse red wine), meet every week and jokingly call themselves the "Merchants of Death" or "The MOD Squad".

Through all of this, Naylor is also trying to maintain a relationship with his son Joey (Cameron Bright). Naylor teaches Joey that no matter what position one has in a debate, if you argue correctly, you will not be wrong. Naylor's boss BR (J.K. Simmons) wants ideas on how to make smoking sell. "We don't sell Tic Tacs, we sell cigarettes. And they're cool, available, and addictive. The job is almost done for us." Naylor has the idea of product placement in movies. BR did a tour in Vietnam and all the men who know what BR stands for, are dead.

He takes Joey on the trip to Los Angeles to meet with an agent about putting more smoking in movies. Naylor is divorced, and shares custody of his son. His son is rather uncomfortable with his father's profession, but Naylor is as great arguing with his son as he is with the press and starts to win him over. Naylor portrays himself as being on the side of freedom and personal choice.

On a side trip, Naylor takes a briefcase full of cash to the original Marlboro Man Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott) who is dying of cancer. There are no strings attached; Lutch can just keep the money. A suspicious Lutch asks why he can't just go to the press. Naylor suggests he do exactly that and recommends which reporter to talk to. Lutch can go on TV, denounce the tobacco industry, and donate the money to a worthy cause. But, if he denounces them, he can't keep any of the blood money. Naylor leaves, confident that Lutch will keep quiet.

Back in DC, he debates Senator Finisterre on Dennis Miller's show. A caller threatens Naylor with death for being responsible for millions of deaths. Naylor brushes the threat off, but he's kidnapped. The kidnapper (Jeff Witzke) covers Naylor in nicotine patches and leaves him naked in the lap of the Lincoln Memorial. Awakening in a hospital, he learns he has survived due to his high nicotine tolerance from heavy smoking, but he is now hypersensitive to nicotine and can never smoke again.

Naylor is interviewed by a reporter Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes) for a Washington paper but ends up seducing her. He's confident of some positive press but is shocked when she gives away all of his secrets. She was having sex with him to get the story. She tells about the hush money to Lutch, the movie deal, and his weekly meeting with the MOD Squad: The Merchants of Death, gun, and liquor lobbyists (there's a funny bit where he one-ups them on how many people his industry kills).

The Academy distances itself from Naylor, who is shattered for a while. Some supportive words from his son inspire him to fight back. He reveals that the reporter was having sex with him to ruin his career and agrees to appear in front of Senator Finisterre's committee. He comes out swinging again, and admits to the dangers of smoking but argues that public awareness is already high enough without extra warnings. He emphasizes consumer choice and responsibility and claims that if tobacco companies are guilty of tobacco-related deaths, then perhaps Finistirre's state of Vermont, as a major cheese producer, is likewise guilty of cholesterol-related deaths.

When asked if he would let his own son smoke, he points out that his son is under 18 and that would be illegal. Pressed for what he would do on his son's 18th birthday, he says that if his son wants a cigarette, he'll buy him one.

Outside the hearing, BR offers him his job back, but Naylor turns him down. Shortly thereafter, the tobacco industry settles for billions and the Academy is shut down. He also mentions Heather was humiliated upon being terminated by the paper for her article and has been reduced to a cub reporter handling weather on a local news station. Naylor supports his son's newfound interest in debating and opens a private lobbying firm. The MOD squad continues to meet with new members that represent the fast-food, oil, and biohazard industries. Now Naylor runs an agency called Naylor Strategic Relations and consults cellphone industry representatives concerned about claims that cellphones cause brain cancer, he narrates: "Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent."

The film is also filled with absurd little cutaways. Naylor has a weird fantasy where's he's starring in a hotel safety video. The gun lobbyists have some trouble with the Senate metal detector. Naylor imagines other industries that can use help, like seal clubbers.