predominantly serves as a showcase for Smith who has little to work with

Rating: Null/10 (2 July 2008)

An unusual idea for a genre film: an antihero posing as a superhero, showing complete disdain for the very people he's trying to protect. Hancock is the only one of his kind, a boozing, antisocial, foulmouthed "man of steel" who ends up causing more damage than the criminals he's trying to apprehend, that is until he meets and befriends Ray Embrey (Bateman), a public relations executive who makes it his mission to mold Hancock into a bona fide hero. Opens with snap, energy, and the kind of silly humor you'd expect, and Smith manages to be engaging even while portraying an unlikable character, but eventually it becomes tedious and redundant as the slim story ingredients get pushed beyond their limits. **