Lack Of Focus, Dodgy Plotlines Define “Hancock”

I’m still not sure of what events had to transpire for me to be convinced to watch “Hancock,” but it happened—maybe I was tricked into thinking this was a retrospective documentary on the life and times of electronica whiz Herbie Hancock. Anyway, it was as weak as I expected it to be. And a movie has to be pretty bad if it has one of my all-time favorites, Charlize Theron, in it and I still thinks it blows. Well, world, meet “Hancock.” “Hancock,” world.

This flick was directed by Peter Berg, refuting the theory that not all bad actors become good directors. And the sad part is I actually feel that there was a fairly interesting premise within this plot, but perhaps it was better suited for a TV show rather than a full-length feature film. Also, three-quarters of the way through the movie, there was a strange, unexpected and slightly confusing plot shift that, in my eyes, moved a “poor” flick into “really bad” territory. Of course, I can admit that perhaps this is one that is targeted more toward the teen dynamic, in which case I can’t really relate to it on that level.

It was an intriguing cast, at least. I’ve always thought Jason Bateman is pretty underrated from a comedic standpoint, and Charlize is, well, Charlize. But I don’t know, and maybe it’s just me, but I’m really tired of Will Smith at this point. I just think he’s a really limited actor and I feel like I essentially saw this same character in “Independence Day.”

Amazingly, the story itself is more than a decade old, and reports are that “Hancock” went through a series of directors before eventually moving into production in 2007. And I say “amazingly” because I would think that somewhere amidst all those alleged professionals, someone would have had the stones to say, “Hey, you know what? This story essentially chews the mighty wanker.”

On the whole, outside of a few pretty cool special effects, I thought “Hancock” was a pretty big swing and miss … and of course, what does that mean in Hollywood? A sequel is on the way! Which all makes me think that Tinseltown could learn a lot from Scott Adams’s quote: “Creativity is about allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”