"Hancock"

Rating: 3 out of 5

At Quality 16 and Showcase

Columbia

"Hancock" - the highly anticipated, slightly overhyped superhero blockbuster starring Will Smith - is a memorable enigma. It's two entirely different movies - almost exactly the same length and each about as ambitious, stunning and frustratingly incomplete as the other. There's a jolting disconnect in what is nonetheless an entertaining production, and when the dust settles, only one thing is left clear: Will Smith can do, say, play and sell anything.

Smith plays the title character, Hancock, who is at first sight just another drunk, grumpy homeless man in Los Angeles. But this hobo's got a secret: He can fly and he's invincible - and no, it ain't just the alcohol talking. Hancock is L.A.'s resident superhero, but this isn't the fantasy world of your average Batmen, Supermen or what have you. This is the real world, and bad stuff happens when some drunk superhobo starts flying around trying to fight crime.

Hancock's "so-called heroics," as the movie's irate newscasters call them, cause millions of dollars in collateral damage and make him about as popular as, well, your average grumpy homeless guy. A chance encounter with Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman, "Juno"), though, brings Hancock the opportunity to remake his life and image, with plenty of hilarious false starts along the way.

So goes the first of the twin narratives in "Hancock." The second awkwardly addresses the little matter of Ray's wife Mary (Charlize Theron, "Monster"). Even if you saw the three trailers for "Hancock," you still might be unaware that Theron is in this film. Relegating a stunning, Oscar-winning actress to but two brief screen swatches in a three-minute trailer may seem odd, but the reasoning for it becomes clearer in the second half of the film.

It isn't possible to discuss Mary any further without giving too much away (though I should note that a new TV spot gives away almost everything), but it is important to point out that the plot twist that renders her important is also the one that shatters what could have been a thoughtful, humorous and cohesive film. Hancock is a superpower who is unpopular for his recklessness and negligence with that power. Ring any bells? Let's just say people in Afghanistan or Iraq would know all about that.

While interviewing Smith two weeks ago, comedian Stephen Colbert seemingly unwittingly stumbled upon the allegory. It really is an ingenious concept for a superhero film, but also one that is lost in mundane, vapid comic book style myth-making in the film's second half. Yet, through what would otherwise be an inscrutable mess emerges Smith, almost superhuman in his ability to keep things credible and intensely watchable.

Smith has shown repeatedly over the years that there is no role he cannot own, and that his standing as Hollywood's most popular star is well-deserved. Even for Smith, though, it is an extraordinary feat to hold together such a flailing, self-reactive narrative. He, Theron and Bateman are constantly asked to achieve the height of perfection, and each time they manage remarkable results. Smith and Theron command each scene with the charm and poise that have made the Academy take notice on several occasions. And Bateman, still the best actor you know nothing about, holds his own with the trademark dry, logical exasperation that anchored TV's "Arrested Development."

There's plenty to like in "Hancock." As reckless blockbusters go, this is among the more thoughtful and well-acted. Even so, it is an undeniable disappointment, a film that twice sets its eyes on a commendable prize, yet - in a mish-mash of big-studio pyrotechnics and stock Hollywood backstory