Thank You For Smoking movie review
As a management consultant, I am not easily swayed by arguments of many consumers that often form their opinions without doing the hard work that any analysis needs. Our television news thrives on hype and sound-bites. “Is your shower curtain killing you?” “Fast food restaurant’s counters found to have more bacteria than the toilet!” No wonder consumers start believing all sorts of myths.
Having said that, there is overwhelming evidence that cigarettes are dangerous and unless you think it is a great idea to commit suicide (which is illegal in many parts of the world and generally condemned by most socities), they should not be consumed.
But people die in many different ways. Close to a million people actually die from prescription drugs, either because they are just dangerous and their side effects are not known until many years after they have been on the market (think Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra) or due to abuse or mistakes. And it is also known that harmless products like corn syrup or butter or meats, if consumed excessively cause numerous health problems and deaths.
With this context, it will be fun to watch “Thank You For Smoking.” Smart people can keep arguing endlessly if cigarettes should be banned or if they should have pictures of skulls or if they should be sold like chocolates, but such proposals often assume that consumers are idiots and they need to be spoon-fed. The reality is that even if a voice announced “You will die if you smoke this cigarette,” some people will still smoke. And then there are people like me who can’t even stand to be in a place with smokers.
The movie is a must watch for anyone interested in marketing, advertising, and business strategy. Nick Naylor (played so well by Aaron Eckhart) is the spokesperson for Academy of Tobacco Studies, an organization whose sole purpose is to conduct so-called research to prove that there is no link between cigarette and cancer. We now know that there are thousands of research institutes, think tanks, and experts/consultants who will do and say anything (and even distort the facts or fudge the data) to prove whatever their clients (mostly corporations that need statements like “According to independent research conducted by…” in their press releases) want and are ready to pay for it.
If you want to get a good understanding of how corporations will do anything to make a buck and will find the help they need from spin-masters and other facilitators, this is a must-watch.
Atonement movie review
We all tell small lies every day without even thinking about it, despite what Mohandas Gandhi might have said. You go to buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks and the cheerful barista smiles at you and asks you how you are doing. Even though you had a difficult meeting with your mean boss the previous evening and you couldn’t sleep because of all the stress related to a major project and the round of layoffs that are coming, what do you tell her. “Hey, doing well, thank you.” These are harmless lies and it is good if life runs that way — do people really care?
Unfortunately, not all lies are harmless. Some lies have serious consequences and can literally change the course of history. That is what the movie “Atonement” is all about in which a little girl (Briony Tallis played by Saoirse Ronan) tells a lie because she is selfish and naive, but does not realize that it meant jail for an innocent man and separation from the woman he loved.
Briefly, Briony misjudges Robbie Turner (played James McAvoy) as some kind of an aggressive maniac and misinterprets his relationship with her sister Cecilia (played by Keira Knightley) as if it were based on abuse. In reality the two liked each other and were simply not sure of their feelings. When a family member is raped, Briony insists that the rapist was Robbie because he was the only person who could do such a heinous thing. Robbie is convicted and sent to jail instead of joining medical school. He is able to come out of jail with the stipulation that he enlist to fight in the Second World War. During the course of the war, Robbie and Cecilia are able to reunite briefly but they both eventually die tragic deaths. Brioni grows up to be a writer and writes the book Atonement to tell the story and as a way to atone for her horrible action that robbed her sister from being with the man she loved.
As always, Keira Knightley does a remarkable job and so does James McAvoy. It is a film with a slow-pace, but emotionally very engaging.
So next time you lie, think if it is a harmless one or if it can change the course of history.
There Will Be Blood movie review
If you have never heard of Daniel Day-Lewis or watched him on screen, you are not alone. He is great actor but does not appear in many movies. After watching “There Will Be Blood,” you will be convinced what a fine actor he is when he depicts a ruthless oilman hungry for power and wealth during the early years of the oil boom in California.
The movie is an adaptation of Oil!, a novel by Upton Sinclair. What is interesting is that the book that documents the ruthlessness of people in the oil business about a 100 years ago is still valid today. More than ever, the fight for oil is intense and it will only get ugly as this precious natural resource gradually disappears, leaving us largely unprepared with a replacement.
While the story is so much about oil, it is easy to forget that it is as much about people, relationships, communities, and religion.
Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) is not only a motivated businessman, he is also ready to do what it takes to achieve its ambition. He also does not like competitors, has no need for God in his life, and that is what he dislikes in Eli Sunday, a pastor at the local Evangelical church, who is always telling him how God could do things right for him. And when God doesn’t (cure his son’s hearing problem), he blames Eli. He almost kills Eli once and the movie ends with Daniel brutally killing Eli, when he comes begging to him for money after his investments went bad.
The movie is very intense and has very little “entertainment.” It must be watched to understand how the world of business works and why entrepreneurs and even preachers can become so heartless in their greed for money. It is a great work of art but do not expect to be entertained in the traditional sense.
