If you argue right, you are right.

I saw the first great movie of 2006 last night -- Thank You For Smoking, written and directed by Jason Reitman. The movie stars the brilliant Aaron Eckhart, who plays Nick Naylor, the spokeman for Big Tobacco, a man whose job is to get people to smoke. Other standouts in the cast include William H. Macy, Rob Lowe, Maria Bello, and Robert Duvall.

Thank You For Smoking is a dark and hilarious satire of lobbyists, of freedom, of politicians, of America. It is a story of bendable morality, of "Merchants of Death," and of concerned parents. It stabs at our image-based culture, where perception is reality. Reitman's style on his first feature shows the work of a real filmmaker. The movie contains cut-shots, freeze-frames, screen text, and voiceover, and none of these feels like a gimmick. The film tells the complicated story of a complex man.

Nick and "Cancer Boy"

Most importantly, Thank You for Smoking is hilarious. I laughed out loud more during this film than I have in a long time. The humor is dark and deeply ironic -- one scene features the lobbyists of the alcohol, tobacco, and firearms industries arguing over whose product is the best at killing people. And when Nick confronts the senator from Vermont who is on a crusade against tobacco, Nick changes the tenor of the debate in a brilliant, sneaky, and very funny way. Finally, Rob Lowe plays a Hollywood super-agent, and when Nick pitches the idea of getting movies to portray smoking as sexy, the interchange between Lowe and Eckhart is priceless.

This will be one of the best films of the year.