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Will Smith dares with aplomb

Film: Hancock

Cast: Will Smith

Director: Peter Berg

Big W comes to the Big B territory. And delivers a film that is so unusually Bollywood-like that it could as well have been made for a certain Hrithik Roshan by someone called Rakesh Roshan! Here the Hollywood superhero can fling and fly, travel across the universe at supersonic speed, palm off bullets, break through walls, and lift cars with his finger nails! Come on, it could as well have been a Rajnikanth film the connoisseurs are so fond of running down. But not many w ill dare to do that: part of the reason is it is a Will Smith film. That brings with it a certain dignity, a certain self-contained expression not easy to ridicule. And part of the reason is the hero himself: he is so cool that he makes incredible not only possible but also plausible.

He is 80 – time stood still then! – looks less than 40. He has seen tragedies down the centuries, and come out unscathed. What’s the story of director Peter Berg’s film? Well, does it need one? For academic purposes our hero is strong, powerful and flings himself into crises situations with monotonous regularity.

He saves people in distress. His Superman-style leaps though are not without consequences and collateral damage: he is, as Jason Bateman delightfully explains it, like an angel to some and a criminal for cops. He gets into the swing of things by saving the car of PR man Ray – played with ease by Bateman – stuck on a railway crossing in the nick of time in front of a speeding train.

The grateful guy, on his part, decides to give him a make-over. And takes him home to the consternation of his wife – played with surprising relish Charlize Theron. That is where the catch lies: are we to see a superhero finally finding his match? Or is there a twist in the tale? We’ll save that for those who shell out money from their pocket to watch the film.

ZIYA US SALAM

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