Hancock

It's nice to see Will Smith starring in a straight-up mainstream smash and bash 'em trash flick which should have been screened at Montréal's Fantasia Fest. Hancock plays on the old "let's bring in an alcoholic anti-hero who everyone loves to hate and then try and reform him" plot device that worked so well in films such as Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Whales or Tony Scott's The Last Boy Scout. Thus, Will Smith plays Hancock, a god suffering from amnesia who drinks straight whiskey all day and cares not for the reckless means he employs to thwart villains as they engage in their acts of villainy. Enter Jason Bateman playing a suburban dad who works in public relations, his main focus being to convince corporations to begin acting kindly by giving things away for free. His character is identical to Arrested Development's Michael Bluth with surly Hancock substituted for his spoilt, decadent family.

Bateman (Ray Embrey) attempts to help Hancock reform by convincing him to turn himself in and do time for his crimes. While in jail, Hancock attends a self-help group wherein inmates discuss their problems in order to convalesce, writers Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan borrowing heavily from similar scenes (which were actually successful) in Mike Myer's Austin Powers and David Dobkin's Fred Claus. Eventually, Smith discovers his divine female counterpart with whom he has been eternally engaged. However, whenever they meet their powers begin to disappear, this natural law functioning as a symbolic representation of successful professionals who are firmly in love and attempting to live together. They reunite just as a number of Hancock's defeated foes escape from prison, giving mere mortal villains a chance to take down a god.

Will Jason Bateman save the day in the end? Will Hancock give up saving the world in order to selfishly pursue his own desire, choosing personal love over communal sacrifice?

I really don't know, but if you're looking to shut off your brain and watch Michael Bluth try and reform a subdued yet belligerent Will Smith for 90 minutes, you may find Hancock mildly entertaining, the tortured cradle of a god who can have everything he wants besides that which he truly desires.