Rating: 
Summary: Insulting
Review: I saw the trailer to this movie and I was appalled by the message this movie sends. I am not over-weight, but take offense for others who are. I am all for silly movies, but sometimes movies cross the line of humor and cruelty. This movie promotes ALL stereotypes of over-weight people.
.... I don't think so. That's just one of the offensive scenes in the movie. What happens is, Hal in some way sees beyond women's outward appearance. In fact, he doesn't see their physical "faults". He meets this over-weight girl and falls for her. They begin dating because he doesn't realize her size. The premise is fine. The excecution isn't. The movie premise might have played better in an after school special without the stereotypes. This is suppose to teach him a lesson on seeing beyond one's appearance. That's fine, but don't do it at the expense of others. Our society already has a problem with believing stereotypes. This movie only serves as vehicle to do that.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible Message
Review: The message that this movie sends to women is that your value is in the way you look. This negatively impacts the self image of women everywhere. It also sends the message that people who are overweight can't be physically beautiful. This is totally not true. Even if the intent of this film is to be obsurd, the messages and stereotypes still continue to perpetuate discrimnation against all who do not fit an ideal of perfect beauty-that's nearly everyone. Don't see this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Shallow Hal, Deep Laughter
Review: Best Farrelly brothers movie besides There's Someting About Mary. Gross as usual, but very funny.
Rating: 
Summary: Good comedy; too many awkward moments
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Deep on thought, shallow on laughs.
Review: The Farrelly Brothers have become a hot commodity in the gross-out department of Hollywood, specializing in such gags as the man-made hair gel that made "There's Something About Mary" more than just a garden variety comedy. After "Say It Isn't So," which they produced, I lost faith in them, but not totally. "Shallow Hal" restores some of that faith, though throughout much of the movie, I kept waiting for something truly funny, something guffaw provoking. The premise of the film carries a warmhearted core that is ideally sweet and charming, but the sloppiness by which the fat/thin angle is handled muddles the moral. Also, the comedy comes up surprisingly short, and you'll be surprised at just how little there is to laugh at. Unlike most leading men in the Farrelly movies, Hal (Jack Black) is little more than an average guy who just happens to be outright shallow when it comes to his choice of women, as he moves from girl to disgusted girl around the dance floor at the local club. Of course, he himself cannot comprehend what it is about him, besides his looks, that women find unattractive. He gets his answer when he becomes trapped in an elevator with self-help guru Tony Robbins, who helps him by "dehypnotizing" him of the cruelty of shallow judgment, warning him that from now on, he will see the inner beauty of people rather than their outer form. Hal, like all sensible people, doesn't believe him, so it comes as no unforeseen surprise that he soon meets Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), who, in his eyes, is a voluptuous, remarkable beauty. We, however, are given small glimpses of the real Rosemary, the very definition of plus-size, from others' points of view. His friends cannot understand what Hal sees in Rosemary, who is equally surprised that Hal finds her so attractive. The movie does itself an injustice by allowing Rosemary to be the thin, skimpy beauty of Hal's dreams for most of the story. Not to discredit the acting of Paltrow, who fills the role with a sincerity and tenderness of heart that becomes one of the movie's strong points; she lights up the screen. But, in its quest to give us an anti-discrimination message, the movie substitutes fat for thin, when it would do better to have us see the real Rosemary more often. The moral of the story centers around the judgmental society, and our need to stereotype people. By seeing Rosemary as a thin person, Hal truly sees her inner beauty, not only physical beauty, but emotional beauty as well. The presence of rail-thin Paltrow clouds the effect of such a message: Rosemary knows she is a fat person ("I know what I am, and what I'm not"), so would she really see her own inner beauty in the form of a thin, blonde goddess? Is inner beauty really about your physical beauty at all? The movie doesn't seem able to make up its mind on clarifying that point. This makes for some awkward moments of comedy, some of which is jubilant, but most of which fails to evoke more than a few mere chuckles. Seeing Hal defend Rosemary to his friends while the camera captures her full figure in the background provides some priceless dialogue. The movie pokes fun at various things, from eating habits to clothing sizes, and even adds in another deformity in secondary character Mauricio. Funny as they are, these moments never evolve into anything more than mere moments, making for extended periods of boredom and wanting. If, by chance, you have seen the trailer for "Shallow Hal," you have pretty much seen the movie, except for the predictable ending, which doesn't cheat by the rules of romantic comedies, but is lacking in originality. The cast shines, the story is sweet, but the moral of the story is enshrouded by the film's own idea of what is funny and what is not.
Rating:
Summary: the last guy is stupid
Review: 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 see. he must be extreamlely stupid to say that this movie didn't say that sucessfuly when it did in reality. that or he must be as shallow as the characters are in teh movie. i'm in the 7th grade and even I know what the message of shallow hal is. shallow hal is a funny movie, and despite what the last nimwit tried to say (i think he/she was trying to sound all smart when he/she is really a duma$$) the movie teaches us that beauty isn't only skin-deep! also about the spell, it only works on people hal hasnt seen before, so his nieghbor and best friend are supposed to appear as normal (and rosemarys dad as well) so that flaw people are complaining about is also not correct. i love this movie so stop reading this and go see it NOW NOW NOW!
Rating:
Summary: The real moral here
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't fool me!
Review: Everyone puts down the Farrelly brothers as gutter-minded boors. And sure, they try to drag this story down from the start. But no matter how many jokes and putdowns they piled on, and no matter how many warnings the critics gave saying this is just a way to mock out fat people, they can't hide the simple niceness of this movie.
The message of valuing truth and inner beauty over image and perfection is too hard to conceal. If you have a heart for that sort of thing you'll like this movie no matter what.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny, ironic, and oddly enough thought-provoking
Review: What you get out of "Shallow Hal" probably depends on how you watch it. You could just coast along, brain in neutral, and enjoy the gags and comic situations. On this level, it's a very successful movie - hardly a minute goes by without something funny happening, or (from time to time) a moment of pathos.
Or you could pause a moment to absorb the moral message - never mind physical appearances, concentrate on the beauty (or ugliness) within. That's more or less valid, up to a point, and lets you reinforce your amusement with satisfying feelings of moral superiority. Just the thought that a beautiful girl (and there are plenty of them in "Shallow Hal") could somehow be lurking inside someone who looks plain at first sight, might be enough to stimulate a new interest in wallflowers.
Most fun, though, for those who are that way inclined, is to analyze the message to death! You get all the scope in the world. For instance, how come Hal sees dozens of "inward beauties", but only one physically good-looking woman who is an "inward hag"? And how come he seems to go on seeing his friends just as they always were? And why doesn't he suspect something when, as the girl of his dreams approaches him stark naked and playfully throws her panties at his head, what he catches is something about the size of a bell tent? Come to that, how does he even survive the ensuing grapple?
OK, a little of that sort of thinking goes a long way, and a lot of you are probably annoyed with me already. So, to close the loop, here's one last question that set me meditating for quite a while - if Hal can't help seeing people as they really are, is there any merit in his behaviour? Intuitively no, but after all couldn't virtue be just the natural result of seeing people clearly?..
Rating:
Summary: I dont normally like comedies
Review: This film was very impressive, It's about a slightly chauvanistic male who is shallow, and has lousy luck in relationships because of it. He gets hypnotised by a guru into seeing the inner beauty of people only, as a result he falls for a seriously obese woman who comes across as thin and beautiful to him, then the laughs start.
The main character does a smashing job as Hal injecting some depth to the character while still being very funny. The supporting cast are also great. It's a very funny film which also works as a touching romantic love story.
Some things i strongly admired about this film (besides the laughs) include the way Hal's shallowness was portrayed as a serious handicap, he would never have had the opportunity to get to know the sick kids, or meet his love or even get to know himself if it hadnt been for his luck in meeting the therapist/guru who brought down the shield. The inner beauty thing works both ways, thus the attractive nurse who is a scheming bitch, he sees as ugly. The soundtrack is pretty good too. Comedy is a difficult thing to do i think, it's great when it comes off well as in this film.
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