Year of release: 2008
Director: Peter Berg
Stars: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Eddie Marsan, David Mattey, Johnny Galecki, Jae Head
Genre: Action, Comey, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Synopsis:Here is a film that has so much going for it that somehow when I got out of the theater I couldn't help think - what a sad waste of talent. The film follows Hancock, an anti-hero prone to destruction fits when he comes to save the day. Somehow whenever he tries to do a good deed, his actions always end up hurting someone (which makes him very unpopular with...everyone). When he saves Ray, a PR man from getting hit by a train, Ray decides to change his image to the world (give him the image of the savior). What unexpectedly happens is the immediate rapport that Ray's wife, Mary, has with Hancock.
What sounds like a very interesting deconstruction of the superhero movie, ends up being a mess of a film, mostly because of a lack of direction and vision. Peter Berg, director of "The Kingdom", "Friday Night Lights" and "Very Bad Things", is a protégé of Michael Mann (that cameos, alongside with screenwriter Akiva "The Da Vinci Code/Batman and Robin/ A Beautiful Mind" Goldsman), however the talent isn't even in the same range. Berg is unsure what tone to give the film, therefore he just tries to go in all directions. It's shocking to see how underused Charlize Theron is (very bad casting choice for her) and ultimately the only person that manages to save face is the always great Jason Bateman (who is one of the most interesting underactors currently working). As for Will Smith, after the really great performance that was Francis Lawrence's "I Am Legend", this one feels like automatic pilot for him. A sad waste of resources (lots of them) for such week results.
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