“Thank You For Smoking,” written and directed by Jason Reitman based on Christopher Buckley’s novel, starts out promising. The plot is ostensibly concerned with redeeming the seemingly irredeemable Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), a spin-meister for the Academy of Tobacco Studies who’s so good at his job that he’s always spewing the company line, even while speaking at his son’s elementary school on career day. Nick embraces the moral flexibility required to keep telling everyone—from cancer-stricken teenagers to perturbed senators—that cigarettes, while perhaps not good for them, certainly aren’t all that bad.

When cigarettes start taking a public relations hit, he consults with super-agent Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe) on ways to put cigarettes back into movies; all the while, Jeff speaks in cryptic non sequiturs and affects an appreciation for Asian culture. Meanwhile, Sen. Ortolan Finisttre (William H. Macy), a maple syrup sipping, Birkenstock-clad politician, is trying to get tobacco companies to put a “poison” label on cigarettes. Nick takes on all the challenges facing Big Tobacco with a smile on his face and a skip in his step. That is, until he meets Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes), a saucy reporter who seduces Nick and convinces him to spill his secrets on the record.

A lot of other things happen along the way. So many, in fact, that by the time Nick is kidnapped and a third subplot is introduced, “Smoking” has no clear trajectory. Is it a satire of Hollywood? Sort of, but the jokes are pretty weak and clichéd. Is it lampooning politicians, corporate overlords and other super-rich types? Almost, but they get off the hook pretty easy. Sure, The Captain (Robert Duvall), CEO of the tobacco company Nick represents, dies of heart disease, but he still receives a lavish burial, complete with six black pallbearers and a freshly-made mint julep atop his casket. Finisttre looks like a buffoon, but that’s only because he’s not as smooth a talker as Nick. There are plenty of jokes, but they are dull and somewhat predictable.

What’s good about “Smoking” is that Nick remains an unrepentant character right until the end. All that pro-cigarette propaganda he spouted about personal choice and responsibility—it turns out he actually believed it all along. It’s a surprising, unsentimental stance that gives “Smoking” its spark.

But this is also what’s wrong with “Smoking.” As Nick, Eckhart creates a great character, one who embraces the contradictions of his job and his personal life with a quick wit and a wry smirk. But Nick never changes, at least not in any way that matters. Without any forward momentum, “Smoking” merely smolders instead of igniting to its full potential.