Hancock: Movie Review (2008)

Directed by Peter Berg, written by Vy Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, 92 minutes, rated PG-13.

Those who follow movies likely know that on its way to cineplexes, the new Will Smith movie, “Hancock,” ran into its share of problems, not the least of which included several scenes being reshot at the last minute when the movie was poorly reviewed by test audiences, and then the unhappy circumstance of the film also being slapped with a family-unfriendly R rating.

Since there’s more money to be had in a film that sports a PG-13 rating, off to the chop shop this movie presumably went. I say presumably because Peter Berg’s “Hancock,” from Vy Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan’s script, is one of the most abrasive, crass “family” movies to hit theaters this year.

It’s unfortunate. When you’re surrounded by families with small children, some of whom walked out after the first F-bomb was dropped, you have to feel for the way they were swindled into seeing this show, and also wonder how the mysterious and flawed MPAA-rating system even works.

Can a studio purchase a PG-13 rating? Publicly, the studios would laugh at the idea. But given this film’s sheer amount of blood violence, graphic dismemberments, adult themes and liberal use of colorful language--not to mention its curious streak of homophobia and obvious issues with race--you have to wonder whether that’s the case.

Anyway, about the movie. There are more problems afoot than just its misleading PG-13 rating, beginning with the story itself.

Smith is Hancock, a sexist, booze-swilling buffoon saddled with superhuman powers whose life is going nowhere. As the movie begins, he has alienated pretty much everyone in Los Angeles, all thanks to the sloppy way in which he battles crime, which usually involves the unnecessary destruction of buildings, automobiles, trains and the surrounding infrastructure.

People are sick of him, but when into his life comes Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman, good as always), a PR man with a heart of gold, Hancock finds himself faced with the opportunity to turn his life around and become the respected superhero Ray believes he can be. It won’t be easy--it does, after all, involve Hancock spending time in prison in an effort to atone for his sins--but it works.

And so does the movie in these early scenes, especially since Smith has enough weight as an actor to make us feel the isolation that comes from Hancock’s situation and his addiction. Soon, he does pull himself together, only to be faced with his greatest challenge of all, a twist involving another character that’s such a stretch, it rattles the movie off its rails.

As disappointing as that twist is, “Hancock” does have its moments, such as a scene in which Hancock disastrously takes care of a beached whale, another in which he casually dispenses with an irritating bully, and early scenes involving Charlize Theron as Ray’s wife, Mary, who is unnerved by Hancock’s presence in her house. Smith also deserves credit for taking on a risky role and for doing his best with it in spite of the film’s cheesy special effects and its increasingly illogical script.

By the end of the movie, though, it’s another story--literally and figuratively. And neither story, sorry to say, comes recommended.

Grade: C-