If People Magazine has a poll on celebrity you most likely to love/hate, Aaron Eckhart would definitely win by a landslide. Well, him or at least his portrayal of Nick Naylor, the lobbyist for the big tobacco industry — the main pro-/antagonist from Jason Reitman's ensemble satire, the cheekily-titled Thank You for Smoking.

TYFS follows the story of Nick Naylor as he juggles co-parenthood of his son with his ex-wife while working as Big Tobacco's lobbyist. The movie was ninety minutes of 100% pure satire meaning nothing in it was not hilarious while taking a jab on society and a mean hook from time to time. Aaron Eckhart managed to carry off the persona of someone you'd easily love one second and want to kill the next, but even while you're plotting his murder you won't be able to help being amazed at how ingenious he is.

Mr. Eckhart might have a been a dead-on perfect casting decision, but he was not the only one. The cast harnesses the combined acting pool of TV series, past decades of movies, and theater. From Rob Lowe's kimono to Katie Holmes' tits (glorious tits, to quote one of the characters), it was as if the movie was half-done based on just the castings. And it was based on a novel, so it's not like the story's not done yet. The screenplay could've been a piece of junk and the movie would've still be passable. Luckily, that wasn't the case. Most satires have a bitter aftertaste, but I left the theater with a chuckle.