Hancock

         “I want you to call me an asshole...just one more time.”

         This crass line is not one uttered by a school bully taunting another on the playground, but rather by Will Smith’s “Hancock” which stars Smith as the titular character. He’s an unlikely hero: a barbate, alcoholic superhero who can leap into the air while pounding whisky, flying through street signs, buildings and moving trains with the nonchalant abandon of someone throwing a cigarette butt into the street. But for some reason he pulls it off: Hancock grows on you, in part because of Smith’s performance and because it finishes strong what it starts. It packs laughs, special effects and, in the unlikeliest of places, enough emotion to tug on the most stoic of heartstrings.

          Joining Smith is the unlikely side-kick, Jason Bateman of Arrested Development fame. In ‘Hancock’ Bateman plays a morally in-tune Public Relations rep struggling to make a difference in the world. His good intentioned lobbying to the corporate side of Los Angeles failing, he turns his attention to Hancock, who appears to be slowly dying. Bateman may not be able to save the world, or create peace overnight, but just maybe he can save John Hancock’s reputation...and perhaps his life.

         Without giving the plot away (which, incidentally, is good), I will say that what causes ‘Hancock’ to excel is that it appeals to a wide variety of movie tricks and audiences. Buildings will fall, cars will fly, and sidewalks will crumble for the duration of the movie, which tries to teach a superhero on a downward spiral that there is a reason for the things he does, even if he doesn’t know what they are. Los Angeles needs this man, even if they don’t know it...and Hancock himself may even discover this if he can put down the bottle long enough to see the sun rise through clear eyes.

         Joining the cast is also the exquisite Charlize Theron, whom I haven’t actually seen for a while, and she does a good job as the wife of Bateman. She seems to recognize him for his bright outlook, and  has a few tricks of her own up her sleeve. Her performance surprised me, for I wasn’t used to seeing her on her own in a movie, not paired with star studded casts like in ‘The Italian Job,’ of ‘Reindeer Games.’ Her acting was very good, and added a layer of believability to Hancock in an unlikely and touching way.

         The movie goes through different stages, but all of them seem purposeful. ‘Hancock’ seems to deliver on all levels. And Smith adds a sweet quality to this brash booze-crazed hero, appealing to that side of us that likes to see bank robbers dangling from the top of the Capitol Records building, or school bully’s being thrown to the heavens. He’s no superman: He doesn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound..although he does frequently jump through them...he doesn’t move with the speed of a speeding train...although he can destroy an entire freight cargo while saving someone’s life...and he prefers to swat bullets out of the sky and fling trucks around like paper dolls. But it works.

         Perhaps the lesson that ‘Hancock’ tries to portray is that no matter how small, large or misunderstood you are, the one thing that everyone strives for is validation: Whether it be appreciation, gifts, or a simple ‘thank you,’ it’s the small things that make the world go round. Bateman realizes it, Theron lives it, and if he’s lucky, perhaps by the end of the movie Hancock will as well...all he needs is a little help from his friends.

         And for God sake, please don’t call him an asshole.