by Anne Hatcher

Created on: December 08, 2008   Last Updated: December 09, 2008

There's a great twist halfway through "Hancock," but the movie's best surprise is that it's so much better than it has to be. Just the novelty of its concept - coupled with the fact that people (like me) would pay to watch Will Smith read from a phone book - is enough to get audiences into the theater; but, like its hero, there's more to "Hancock" than meets the eye.

Smith plays John Hancock, a foulmouthed, perpetually drunk superhero who often causes more mayhem than the criminals he fights. When he saves PR consultant Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) from being squished by a train, Ray decides to help Hancock turn his life around. Ray's wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), isn't so keen on the idea. Neither is Hancock.

Just when you start to suspect "Hancock" doesn't have much to offer beyond its clever concept, it lobs you a curve ball in the form of a plot twist that spins the movie in an entirely different direction. It switches gears dramatically, trading the lighthearted comedy of its first half for a fairly serious tone, and replacing its cartoonish action with real-world violence. The change in tone is so jarring that it almost feels like you're watching a different movie. When a villain is finally added to the mix, it seems like an afterthought - a character thrown in just to facilitate the movie's inevitable climactic showdown. But these flaws aren't enough to make "Hancock" any less entertaining; when it works, it works very well.

Will Smith has proven time and again that he can carry a movie - he didn't even stumble under the ponderous weight of last year's "I Am Legend" - but this time around he has plenty of help. Bateman and Theron are both so good that, at times, each of them threatens to steal the movie from Smith. In the end, though, "Hancock" is Smith's movie, and he plays the part with remarkable charm and nuance.

Many critics have been unkind to "Hancock," and one can't help but wonder if they're holding it to an unfair standard; after all, "Iron Man" raised the bar for superhero movies, and "The Dark Knight" is already being hailed as one of the best crime dramas ever. Hancock definitely won't win such accolades, but it's still a terrifically entertaining story about faith, friendship and redemption. If that doesn't do it for you, don't worry - lots of really big stuff gets smashed, blown up, and/or thrown at people.

"Hancock" is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence and language;" in other words, there's some cussin' and fightin'. While there's little blood, the last few minutes are probably too violent for very young children

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