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 twelve-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 argument 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-entitle the Mod 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 a skull and crossed bones in the 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.
Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Christopher Buckley (who wrote the original novel) can be seen at the metro station reading Heather's article about Nick.
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Goofs
Errors in geography:
When the "Captain" dies, Nick flies to Winston-Salem NC, to attend the funeral. As the limos are pulling in to the cemetery, you can see the following on the bumpers: TCP-54321. That could only happen in California. The CA Public Utilities Commission issues permits to operate limousines called Transportation Charter Party. Each limo has to have the letters TCP and its individually assigned number on the corners of both front and rear bumpers.
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Quotes
[first lines]
Joan Lunden:
Robin Williger. He is a 15 year old freshman from Racine, Wisconsin. He enjoys studying history; he's on the debate team. Robin's future looked very, very bright. But recently he was diagnosed with cancer, a very tough kind of cancer. Robin tells me he has quit smoking, though, and he no longer thinks that cigarettes are "cool." See more »
Crazy Credits
The opening credits are styled to appear as cigarette
boxes.
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