Monster is the true story (I’m not sure how dramatized it is) of Aileen Wuornos (Theron), a Daytona Beach prostitute who finds love in a young lesbian named Selby (Ricci).  After one job goes bad, very bad, Aileen kills her John in self-defense and decides to hide the body.  After that, she can’t go back to hooking and kills all the men that pick her up (besides this one guy who stutters and thanks her for the hand-job, but that might be just the drama talking, and not real life).  She becomes one of America’s ‘first woman serial killers.’

While a certainly a fascinating true-life drama, Jenkins doesn’t really choose to let the characters’ interaction tell the story, and instead turns this into a pity party for Aileen.  You see, Aileen had a bad childhood, so we’re supposed to look the other way when she kills the men that pay her for sex.  I’m not saying that she was purely a ‘monster’ as the press referred to her, but I was slightly offended that the film seemed to be two hours of excuses of why she did what she did.  The plot wasn’t horrible, the character development wasn’t hugely lacking, but watching it, I just kind of felt, ‘…eh,’ except on the issue of Theron’s performance.  Jenkins also, for whatever reasons, chose to focus on the sordid, lesbian relationship an undue amount.  Which, in fact, distracted from the storyline, more than added.  Under any other circumstances, however, watching Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci make out would be a pleasant experience.

It truly was remarkable to watch Theron transform into this sexually confused, physically unattractive, serial murderer.  Theron’s previous film right before Monster was made, was that Mini Cooper commercial…what was that called again?  Oh, The Italian Job.  But you wouldn’t recognize her between the two roles.  Check her out here to see how much she changed.  Thanks to gaining a few pounds for the role, some intense makeup and a dental prosthesis, she’s completely unrecognizable.  But beyond the superficial, her acting was awe-inspiring.  And will, unfortunately, cause you to feel that somehow, the system failed Aileen, and we as a society, are to blame. The plot may leave you unsatisfied, but the acting will restore your faith in the Academy’s choices.

2.5 out of 4 stars

If you want to watch something really disturbing, watch the real Aileen Wuornos interviewed one day before her execution in 2002.

Hancock seems to be just an excuse to let Smith be Superman, another movie where he saves the world! But this is not the Superman we all know, this is the quirky (but not really) version, where the hero doesn’t really care about anything, complete with horrible one-liners after horrible one-liners and everything! Remember on the trailer where the little kid tries to alert Hancock to the bad guys, and he responds, ‘Whatchu wan’? A cookie?’ That’s about as good as the scriptwriting gets…sorry Smith fans.

Hancock is directed by Peter Berg (the guy you can thank for bitchin’ hits like ‘Smokin’ Aces’ and ‘Corky Romano’). Even coupling the action scenes with chart topping hits like, ‘Move bitch, get out the way’ fail to bring any sort of emotion to the viewer. Now, not everything was so bad, Jason Bateman plays Ray, the guy without character flaws who just wants to save the world and believes so much in Hancock that he uses his PR skills to change how Los Angeles sees him (I’m not sure why though, the sober Hancock is even less fun than drunk Hancock. Bateman’s comedic timing is spot on, just like all his other endeavors (bring back Arrested Development!).

Charlize Theron plays Ray’s wife Mary, who spends a lot of time gazing at Hancock with a worried look…might she have something to hide?! We all know she has the chops to deliver a solid performance, but maybe she was as bored with the script as I was and played Mary with such lackluster, I was actually entertained at how little she seemed to care.

There are some plot developments, twists we’ll call them (although they’re not really interesting enough to be called twists, more like little bends in the plot line) that aren’t completely obvious, but aren’t really engaging either. If you’re dead set on watching this movie as most Smith fans will be, see this while it’s still in theaters, I shudder to think how even more deeply underwhelming it will be on your 32″ TV.

1 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 37% – Cream of the Crop: 38%