Hancock (12A)

Dir. Peter Berg, US, 2008, 92 mins

Cast:  Will Smith,  Charlize Theron,  Jason Bateman

Review By Carol Allen

Although Smith can cut it as a dramatic actor, most notably in his Oscar nominated performance as Ali, when he's not doing outright comedy, we still expect him to make us laugh at times, even in films such as his recent near solo performance in the sci-fi movie I Am Legend.  With Hancock you're not always sure whether he's trying to make us laugh or feel sorry for him.

Hancock is a fallen superhero.  Coarse, scruffy, unwashed, bad tempered, he's a drunken grouch, living rough on the streets like a hobo and snarling at everyone.  He still does the superhero bit when required, but creates super mayhem with it.  When he rescues a beached whale and throws it back into the ocean, he sinks a ship at the same time.  When he flies through the air, he collides with the birds.   Such is his collateral damage and unpleasant personality that the citizens of Los Angeles are beginning to think they'd be better off without him.  Things change the day he saves the life of PR man Ray (Bateman), trashing his car and several others in the process it must be said.   But Ray sees an opportunity to give Hancock a more positive image and despite the cussedness of his client, sets to work with a will, getting him to make amends to society and fitting him out with a cute superhero uniform that will make people trust him.    

The first part of the film is about this rehab process and the relationship between the two.  With Hancock being such a pain in the butt of a character, it's left to Bateman to engage our sympathies, which he successfully does.  He's rather good in fact.  One feels though that these two should be striking comic sparks off each other but the laughs fail to come.  The jokes just fall flat and the total charmlessness of the Hancock himself doesn't help.  He's so unlikeable that he just isn't funny.  There's also the apparently odd casting of Theron as Mary, Ray's perfect rather Stepford style wife and stepmother to his children.  Then the film totally changes tack, becoming a bit more interesting as it turns into a would be touching drama.   We find there's more to Mary than meets the eye, as she helps Hancock to be a true superhero and solve the mystery of his forgotten downfall.   Somewhat late in the day Smith finally has a chance to engage our sympathies.   Then it all resolves itself in a typical action movie sound and fury climax.   The film's frankly though a bit of a mish mash, which like Hancock himself appears not to know where it's going or what it's trying to do.