Hancock (2008)

The psycho frantic nature of this film was probably foreshadowed with an oddity of the adverting. I first became aware of the film from a poster featuring a close up shoot of a scruffy Will Smith wearing shads and what I guess is a winter hat, he is almost unrecognizable in this. Then I saw the first trailer, now this sold me on the quirky revisionist conceit of a drunken superhero in need of a P R consultant, plus the paring of Smith and Jason Batemen seemed promising (and in fact they do work quite well together in the movie). However a second trailer reveling the presence of Charlize Theronin the film through me for a loop. Why wasn’t she in any of the other advertising I saw?* Why does this second trailer convey what seems to be such a different, darker movie then the first? Well having now seen the movie (for free courtesy of promotional tickets supplied by Joe and Kami and 96.9 The Eagle) I understand why, this film can’t decide what it wants to be and in turn is two movies.

Now the first movie I liked, it was the movie of the first trailer, it was what I expected and was enjoyable in the way you want a Will Smith movie to be. Then probably a little more then half way through the film there is a surprise twist, one that really caught me unexcepted because I thought they had been building things in another direction. I have to compliment the film makers on sneaking up on me so unexceptedly like that, especially in a popcorn movie such as this, but ultimately once the twist was explained it left me unsatisfied. In addition it introduced a jarring and major tonal shift in the picture from which it never recovered, with the second half feeling rushed and overcrowded, with a villain that seemed almost like an afterthought. In the end what was supposed to be a moving climax felt emotionally and logistically contorted, plus the "physics" of the thing that should have set this up for us never really felt consistent. Lastly when Batemen lets lose that scream towards the end of the picture, it felt like the audiences last remaining link to the first movie had surrendered to the second movie and I had given up on the movie all together. Now major tonal shifts can work in some movies with Sullivans Travels and They Drive By Night being prime if older examples, but that shift simply crashed this movie and I can't recommend it. No not even as summer fodder, and to emphasize this point I give it a lowly Two out of Five.

For another awkward film about a PR consultant see Bruce Willis in The Kid (2000).

* Having now reviewed that origninal trailor you can see Theron, but only briefly and she dosen't speak any dialouge.