Shallow Hal

 

 

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This movie has a feel-good message, making it enjoyable enough for three stars. It says that we all deserve to be loved even if we're not physically attractive (in what it considers the "conventional" sense). But will it really change anything of what it deems mere "convention"? Will Gwyneth Paltrow go on being an advocate for the inner beauty of obese people and others "conventionally" unattractive? I kind of think not. Her performance here is significant and may display genuine talent. But most likely her future roles will reflect a sense of glamour in slimness as much as ever, meaning nothing was really changed by the movie. Similarly, will Jack Black, after his similarly impressive performance be any more inclined than before to accept an obese woman as a girlfriend? I similarly doubt that. For all its feel-good message, SHALLOW HAL builds us up for a let-down when we realize its lack of realism. Many of us will go on with our inner beauty as underappreciated as ever because of outer appearances, and will still find hard to swallow that suggestion that prevalent standards of beauty run no deeper than convention.

What I learned after watching this movie is that if someone who is extremely shallow and only pursues hotties suddenly becomes successful with hotties, he/she will one day instantly lose his/her shallowness. Why did I learn this instead of what the Farrley brothers set out to teach us? Simple: the stupid spell that Hal (Jack Black) was put under was garbage! In the beginning, he pursues hotties who reject him (who are hotties in reality, at least according to standards of society). After the spell, guess what? Surprise surprise.......he still pursues hotties (only this time, he's the only one who sees knock-outs; everyone else sees....well....what society has deemed less than knock-outs). He is still only interested in scoring with supermodels, and what really bothered me was the conversation Hal had with Mauricio (Jason Alexander) after he removed Hal's spell, and Hal could no longer locate the hottie he once saw sitting at the restaurant, known as Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow). Hal goes balistic on Mauricio, because "I had a beautiful, intelligent, funny, (blah blah blah) woman, and YOU MADE HER DISAPEAR," proving without a doubt that he still is shallow after the spell! All of her good qualities dissapear, only because her looks aren't a 10, and we are supposed to believe that Hal is turning over a new leaf? What sucks more is that, for no logical reason, the first time Hal looks at Rosemary (for real as an obese woman, and knows that it is her), he can instantly not only accept her, but want her. THIS ISN'T REALISTIC, PEOPLE!!! People who are shallow their whole life and don't look past the surface of people can't, in the blink of an eye, desire someone who physically, most people would consider a reject (wouldn't that be nice!). Basically, this movie wants us to believe that there's an on/off switch in our brain that can be flipped at-will to make us attracted to people we've never been attracted to before, which is completely untrue. This is why the transformation this movie tries to show us via Hal lacks logical soundness, and why this movie fails to teach us anything. While I did not find this movie offensive (it was actually quite funny at times, thanks to our three leads), I did finish the movie questioning how deep shallow Hal had managed to become.

Jack Black and Jason Alexander are masters of the art of comedy. We all know Alexander from the show "Seinfeld" (I think he and Cramner are much funnier than Seinfeld himself), and Jack Black is in the band Tennacious D (sp?), and has been in such movies as High Fidelity and Orange County. In Shallow Hal, these two don't dissapoint, especially in the scenes where they are together. I was on the floor laughing during the scene where Mauricio (Alexander) and Hal (Black) are at the bar and Mauricio first notices that Hal is dancing, and ultimately desiring, people that most Americans would find physically unatractive. Also, Gwyneth Paltrow plays her role very well, and isn't a sappy romantic leading woman like most are these days (ehhhhem.....Julia Roberts). She plays Rosemary, a kind, but overweight woman who, after some therapy that only allows him to see the inner beauty in future woman, appears to Hal to look gorgeous. This should, potentially, set up some very funny situations, and it does at times. However, it doesn't always tend to.

More often than not, this sets up too many awkward situations where realistically, Rosemary would have said something like "I never wanna see you again, you a$$hole!" Such moments include the scene where Rosemary and Hal are at lunch after they just meet, and the two argue about her beauty. Hal tells her that she must be "what.....110, 112 pounds?" I don't know in what world the directors must have been in to honestly let that one slide, but most overweight women would have slapped Hal, and been out the door. And that's just one of many scenes like it. They make the some parts of the movie uncomfortable to watch, at best. Fortunately, Black and Alexander manage to keep you laughing after scenes like the aforementioned. The second flaw in this movie is the spell that Hal is under. If the spell was supposed to make Hal see the inner beauty in people, then their looks should not have changed. In other words, this spell that Tony Robbins (Anthony Robbins) puts Hal under doesn't allow Hal to beomce less shallow; he STILL only goes after women who look like models to him. So, all of a sudden, at the end of the movie, he is instantly able to look past Rosemary's weight, and falls for her THE FIRST TIME HE SEES THE REAL HER! Bogus!!! I don't buy it one bit!! However, the amount of genuine laughs this movie contains still merit it 3 stars.

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5.0 out of 5 stars the last guy is stupid
i dunno what the last guy is talking about this movie has a good message about not judging poeple by their outside self alone but to judge their personalities as well as what we... Read more

Published on July 10 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars If I'd known it was a Farrelly movie...
I would have never got it.
It's a mix-mash of a movie.
You may still enjoy it, but it's almost like 3 movies in 1:
1. The comedy - Shallow Hal
2. Read more

Published on May 15 2004 by Jon R. Patrick

3.0 out of 5 stars AMUSING, BUT AN INSULT TO BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
When this movie was first released there was some hype about how offensive it supposedly was to unattractive and/or overweight women. Read more

Published on April 26 2004 by Joseph Murillo

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Good!!!
I did not expect much from Shallow Hal.I just expected your typical dumb comedy with the accompanying toilet humor and gag jokes. Read more

Published on April 24 2004 by adriana

4.0 out of 5 stars Shallow Hal
"Shallow Hal" is an amusing romantic comedy. "Hal," a very shallow man portrayed by Jack Black, is hypnotized by Tony Robbins to see the inner beauty in... Read more

Published on April 22 2004 by K. Hill

5.0 out of 5 stars SHALLOW hal! 15th april 2004.
Hal wants to meet a perfect woman. He just sees her going into a shop. He dosen't know her but he likes her it is like love at first sight. Read more

Published on April 15 2004 by Kathryn Pointon

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's go Swimming
I happened to tape this one night and I was kind of wary to watch it. I heard the good reviews that it was a good, lighthearted film. Read more

Published on Mar 26 2004 by Alex Perkins

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
I loved this movie because it challenged our perceptions of what was beautiful and how truly shallow society's perception of beauty is. Read more

Published on Mar 25 2004 by DJ_Bitter

1.0 out of 5 stars Correctly Named
This movie most certainly lives up to the name "Shallow", as I could not find any humor in it what so ever. Let me see if I have story correct. Read more

Published on Mar 20 2004 by clarence_cat_2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Shallow Hal Had a Gal
This has to be one of the funniest movies of all time. It is definately in my top ten. Jack Black really comes into his own in this sarcastic film about a man who just can't... Read more

Published on Mar 11 2004 by Joseph J. Slevin

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