HANCOCK(2008)
A less-than-super superhero has a PR problem, and Jake
Brigance is just the PR man to help! What Jake doesn't know
is that his wife has issues with his new-found-superfriend!
A fun movie to watch! B+
From Amazon.com:
Hancock turns the standard superhero movie inside-out:
The title character (Will Smith) can fly, has superstrength,
and is invulnerable, but he's also a sloppy, alcoholic jerk
who causes millions of dollars in property damage
whenever he bothers to fight crime. When he saves the
life of a public-relations agent named Ray (Jason Bateman,
Arrested Development), Ray decides to improve Hancock's
image--starting by having Hancock surrender himself to
the authorities and go to prison for his lawless behavior.
The idea is that once he's in prison, the crime rate will go
up, and people will start to realize Hancock might be of
value after all. This is only the first act of Hancock--from
there, the movie takes several clever turns that shouldn't
be revealed. Hancock isn't a great movie (among other
things, director Peter Berg overuses close-ups with a
hand-held camera to a degree that may cause motion
sickness), but it is an extremely entertaining one. The
script, which holds together far better than most superhero
movies, has a propulsive plot, good dialogue, some
compassion for its characters, and even an actual idea
or two. The spectacular action at least gestures towards
obeying the laws of physics, which actually makes the
special effects more vivid. The three leads (Smith, Bateman,
and Charlize Theron as Ray's wife, Mary) deftly balance
the movie's mixture of comedy, action, and drama. All
in all, a smart subversive twist on a genre that all too
often takes itself all too seriously. --Bret Fetzer