Good ideas spoiled by a messy movie

Rating: 4/10 (5 August 2008)

I was not expecting much from Hancock. After his dramatic turn in the rather disappointing The Pursuit of Happiness, and the promising but fatally flawed I Am Legend, I was not sure I was going to be able to accept and genuinely enjoy another Will Smith movie. And sure enough, even going in with low expectations was not enough.
Hancock tells the story of the titular hero (Smith), who in a rather original move, is a mean-spirited alcoholic. He helps save the day for many in Los Angeles, but at the price of causing millions of dollars worth of damage, and offending just about everyone. He saves Ray Embry (Jason Bateman), a public relations agent, from certain death, and as a thank you, Ray wants to clean up Hancock's image.
The actual great thing about Hancock is that it is, for the most part, an original idea. Yes, comic book fans may recognize the alcoholism as a trademark of Tony Stark, but it makes for a hell of a character dynamic for this so-called superhero. As well, unlike the comic book film superheroes we have come to understand, Hancock does not want to be a hero. He just wants to be appreciated for what he does do, and left alone all the rest of the time. And of course, as would be typical for Smith, Hancock is a bit of a wise-ass. All of these elements lead to a superhero character unlike any we have seen (although he borrows from Superman's books and can fly and deflect bullets).
But unfortunately, that is nearly the only great thing this movie has to offer.
The movie plays itself loose and extremely fast. The brief explanation I gave for the film encompasses nearly half an hour of the film's running time. And for a film that runs less than an hour and a half, that may sound like a bit much to chew on. But somehow, the film flies through from point to point, only pausing for seconds at a time to explain what is happening. And much like I Am Legend, the film veers off into a completely different direction in the third act that nearly completely defeats the purpose of the previous two (although anyone who knows the big revealing moment already may be disappointed to know it does not build on much more). In this case, it attempts to explain the mythology behind the character, but fails because of how convoluted and useless it sounds. Even worse is the dramatic tone change from action romp to hardcore drama that is handled even less well.
It is obvious even as early as the film's opening shots that director Peter Berg is trying to do something different. As if taking on an original superhero was not enough, Berg wanted to make it feel even less like a superhero movie, and more like a coming-of-age/outsider tale. While this is an admirable thought, the script is not nearly strong enough to let it happen. It just does not seem to know what it wants to be, and has an even bigger problem trying to understand its main character. Should we feel sorry for him? Maybe at the beginning, but less and less as the film goes along. Its three distinct acts are just that: distinct. They all want to accomplish something different, and when meshed together, they just do not work out. The ideas may be intriguing, but there should have been more experienced writers on hand to explore them.
What is even more inexcusable is the lack of development in the supporting characters. While Hancock has something to work with early on, the rest of the cast has to hobble along just to hold themselves up. Bateman's character has an ongoing subplot about an idea he has for pharmaceutical companies to benefit the less fortunate, but we understand very little about who he is, and even less about how wealthy he appears to be (despite some rather negative feedback on the idea he has). He is basically negated to simply watching Hancock do his thing after he works his PR magic. Charlize Theron, cast as Bateman's wife Mary, has something about her right from the moment she pops on screen. You can tell the filmmakers are trying to play up on her development by making her so cynical about Hancock, but when her character finally needs to be used, she falters and flops in an instant. Her character serves a point, but at the expense of being useless all the rest of the time. The rest of the supporting cast, save for The Embrey's adorable son Aaron (Jae Head), are all underused to the point that crediting them would be a waste of time.
Smith, attempts to make his character work, but the inherent problems at the core of Hancock's script plague his good work. Yes, he can play wise-ass very good, but he has some good moments of pathos, but not nearly enough to make the audience truly feel for him. Smith plays the character much like others, with very little regard for not basically playing himself (or at least, the image he displays for the public). Maybe another dose of The Pursuit of Happiness, where he is very un-Will Smith-like, is exactly what the man needs to wake up and actually show off some form of acting chops.
Thankfully, the music and special effects pull through basically unscathed (although a few of the flying scenes looked terribly fake).
While at its heart, Hancock may have been a good idea for a new superhero movie, it did not turn out to be one in the end. Bad writing and sloppy direction take away from any great ideas that could have been infused into the script, and sadly, it does not look like anyone appears to care. And unfortunately, that is the saddest thing about this mess of a movie.
4/10.