Rating: 
Summary: Shallow Hal
Review: From Gwyneth's absolutely amazing... to lines such as chankles this movie was one of the funniest movies I've seen of the year. Everyone in this movie was hillarious and there were a lot fat ugly people like expected. I suggested that everyone see this movie and once you've seen like movie buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Film about bodies only accessible by your mind.
Review: Usually characterised, even by their admirers, as purveyors of 'gross-out' or 'dumbed down' physical comedies, the Farrelly Bros. are actually (with Soderbergh) the most intelligent film-makers working in mainstream Hollywood today. Whereas most successful films function by numbing its audience into a brainless state, encouraging a passive awe of new technology and explosive set-pieces, the flawed, but often inspired 'Shallow Hal' is a movie entirely composed of ideas, one that cannot work without the intellectual input of the viewer. Any given scene in the movie depends on at least three layers of narrative and point of view operating simultaneously, the tension between each releasing the comedy, the satire, the poignancy. Take the terrific sequence where Hal is eating with Rosemary in the fast-food restaurant (this situation is level one). Level two is that the scene is not really happening on a material level; it works on an ideal, Platonic and subjective plane - Hal sees a person who looks like Gwyneth Paltrow, but doesn't really. Level three is the audience awareness of this situation, and its awareness of the characters' lack of awareness. Level four complicates it further - Rosemary, within this 'false' or unreal scene, has the emotions of her 'real' physical self, bringing back objectivity or realism to the subjective. This might sound like a statement of the obvious, but as the film proceeds, these levels branch out, making the comedy crueller, because we laugh at situations even though we know their traumatic effect on the character we're laughing at; and, for this very reason, more moving. As a demonstration of how popular film works, how the audience relate to stars and the characters they play, it trumps any dry text book or lecture. It goes further - by asserting once again the Farrellys' affinity with the marginalised, those considered by our mainstream culture as outsiders and abnormal. It is also, in this year of over-hyped, over-long and under-magical fantasies, a genuine fairy-tale, with Hal as the hero who, given transformative power in a chance meeting with a wise teacher, sees the world metamorphose before his very eyes, a narrative externalising of an inner journey. Although 'Hal' continues the Farrellys' interest in schizophrenia, in the break between the body, the soul and the mind, and in the fragility of each, it is not one of their classics. Their best films have held comedy and sentiment in perfect balance - the latter gave the comedy a richer dimension; the former gave the sentiment ironic perspective. Here the jokes are submerged by the moral messages, and the second half especially goes on a bit. Nevertheless, this cast is amazing - Jack Black is a likeably boorish Everyman; Gwyneth Paltrow pulls off a very difficult double role with intelligence, charm and emotion; and Jason Alexander, at last, has abandoned his hang-ups about 'Seinfeld', playing a deliciously puerile cross between George Costanza and Newman.
Rating: 
Summary: pretty stupid
Review: The meaning behind the movie is actually a good, however basic, meaning: you shouldn't judge people on their looks. But some scenes are unnessasary and just add on to the movie. It's a little bit funny at times but I personnaly don't remember laughing at all. And the ending is REALLY DUMB and ruins the whole movie, and is also very predictable. Ugh. I suggest Orange County over this. I really can't get my point across because I suck at writing, but read the other 1 and 2 star reviews to know how I feel about it. ;/
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie
Review: I watched Shallow hal and I liked it a lot. It keeps the laughter and the irony perfectly balanced. Where you would feel the movie gets judgemental or shallow, as the title says, it hits you back in the face showing the real deal here. It is a difficult issue to deal with and to see a sparkling beauty like gwyneth portraying the role of a large girl is the perfect remedy for a lot of "shallow-thinking" people to get a different point of view. The movie holds a lot of truth and wisdom in it and manages to be really funny at the same time. (spoilerstuff)
I absolutely got totally moved when Hal deals with his "real" perspective for instance when he walks in the care centre again. The message there is so strong and will really set a lot of thinking to the term: real beauty.
Reaching the end of the movie I thought to myself; now this movie will do a visionchange for Hal where he sees all these large people and etc just turn beautiful again. I was happily surprised when it didn't happen. Great fun, good acting, great movie!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Hal is less shallow than this movie
Review: <<<<< Caution - Mild Spoilers >>>>>> The promotion of SHALLOW HAL hardly had me waiting with proverbial bated breath to see it. I was thinking, all we need is another movie that, like GROUNDHOG DAY and WHAT WOMEN WANT implies that it's only with some essentially supernatural intervention that a man has any hope of becoming "sensitive" enough to be worthy of being attractive to women. On seeing it I found that SHALLOW HAL is moderatey entertaining and less manipulative than those others in that area, but still not capable of being taken as seriously as it seems to beg to. It seems the title is lost on lots of viewers and critics alike. I heard one prominent critic reinforce the literal implications of the title by calling Hal something like incredibly superficial or exceptionally shallow. But I can only see the title as intended ironically, for Hal has to be just about the least shallow character in the movie to make it work. The really morbidly shallow character is Hal's friend, played by Jason Alexander (at least through most of the movie; I'll say no more). When I say Hal makes the story work by being actually not shallow, the trouble is that it all works too well, to the point of being not quite believable. The message seems to be that we all must totally ignore outward physical attributes in seeking out who we're attracted to, inner beauty being the only thing that counts. Another dubious claim the movie puts forth is that "unattractive" girls are nicer than attractive ones, because the latter have the luxury of being more choosy about what guys they're friendly with. True, more "attractive" people do have such a luxury, but in the real world another trend is at work offsetting its effects. Less "attractive" people tend to become embittered by persistent rejections, and that gives them their share of unpleasant personality traits as well Even if basing attraction only on inner beauty is totally desirable, it's just so not going to happen in the real world. One character in the movie alludes to THE CRYING GAME to make his point. He says that that movie is the story of a man falling in love with a (for all he knew) "normal" woman, then, finding out that the woman was physically a man, found it didn't matter because he was in love with the peron's inner beauty, not outward physical beauty. That was never my interpretation of THE CRYING GAME; I always thought of the relationship between the two main characters as essentially "platonic". In fact to interpret it the way it is interpreted in SHALLOW HAL flies in the face of current views that homosexuals don't choose to be that way (as neither do heterosexuals), and that neither could choose to be otherwise. Current views tell us that homosexuals who've tried to conform to societal norms and be heterosexuals mess up the lives of their intended mates, an injustice to both partners. But by the standards of SHALLOW HAL, anyone constrained in their attractions by physical attributes is shallow. Hence all strict homosexuals and all strict heterosexuals would be shallow; only neutrally bi-sexual people (if any are absolutely neutral) could be otherwise. We acknowledge that some are incapable of attraction to the opposite sex and could only mess up the life of an attempted opposite-sex partner as well as their own by trying to be. By the parallel that SHALLOW HAL tries to draw in invoking THE CRYING GAME it would be only fair to acknowledge that some just can't be attracted to fat people, and we shouldn't encourage them to just mess up the lives of themselves and fat atempted partners alike by trying to change that. It's not necessarily in anybody's best interest to call such a one "shallow" and tell them to "snap out of it". I still venture to hope there's a right person for everybody. SHALLOW HAL is a heart-warming movie that moves us to a little optimism on that point. But if we walk out of the theater with our heads completely in the clouds about it, we're sure to be let down and realize that life is still unfair. Some of us, because of obesity and other factors, will always have a harder job of finding one attracted to us.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Original
Review: Modern society exists in a state of collective denial about a number of issues, particularly about women's physical appearance. Enter Shallow Hal. This film applies a comedic look to a very serious cultural disorder, and it does so with stunning success. Some comments: Anybody who appreciates humor has to enjoy Jack Black. Period. This guy is absolutely the funniest actor since Steve Martin. I mean, I was rolling on the floor watching him dancing. That's not to say that the movie is a piece of fluff. It is far from that. As somebody who has seen the effects of anorexia on one too many close friends and relatives, I believe I have the perspective to say that this film challenges our psychological perception of ourselves and others, and addresses the issues with dignity. Particularly important, as a secondary but related theme, is the treatment of disability culture within the film. It's refreshing to see an actor with spina bifida portrayed in a realistic light, again, with dignity. I believe I come not too far off the mark when I say that the Farrely Bros. are taking a step towards a more complex, mature film-making style with this piece. Thoroughly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Nearly two hours of this?
Review: It seemed as though New Year's Day was a time to go out and catch a movie. A few friends and I had the same idea, and were lucky to have only paid a dollar apiece to see this film at the budget theater. From start to finish, 'Shallow Hal' is a dull, boring film. The funniest scene--judged on the laughter of the people around me--was shown in the trailer. Overall, I laughed maybe once or twice every fifteen to twenty minutes. There were times in this film where things seemed to be added after filming to get an extra laugh or two, but they only seemed tacked on and added to the film's length, which was not helpful for this movie overall. About an hour in I was already checking my watch every minute or so, and just as expected, it crept along until the end. Earlier this year I saw 'Rat Race', expecting to hate it. But it was a comedy where there were times it was so hilarious you couldn't help but laugh. Though it was not the greatest comedy ever, it was a good summer movie. I wished 'Shallow Hal' would be similar, but I knew about forty-five minutes into the film that we had a flop on our hands. So in conclusion, 'Shallow Hal' is a boring, dull, unfunny film that ruins the entire purpose of what a comedy movie should be. I suggest visiting your local Blockbuster for a good old-fashioned comedy film off the shelves for two dollars then spending the same--or maybe more--on this waste-of-my-time movie. Avoid at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: Jack Black Is The Greatest
Review: Jack Black one of today's rising comedic actors give's a great performance. I went and watched this the day it was released in theater's and was laughing non-stop, Jack Black give's a great performance showing why he is the next greatest comedic actor. If you like this movie or Jack Black also check his band Tenacious D on tour awesome concert and awesome CD they have, 5 stars for Jack Black.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I thought this movie was great! It gives a superb message about inner beauty, and it is all done perfectly. It was very touching and sentimental, and also funny. Jack Black gave a great performance as shallow Hal, and Gweyneth Paltrow was very sweet and convincing as Rosemarie. I never thought that the Farrelly brothers could make a film filled with such heart and compassion. There were a few fat jokes that may seem offensive to some, but it's all done in good taste. Nothing goes too overboard. I thought that I was going to see another "In the Company of Men", in which the woman at the end was dumped horribly for no reason whatsoever. I was wrong. This was a great film, and one of the Farrelly's best! Way better than their last film, "Me, Myself, and Irene"! I highly recommend this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Farelly Brothers Flatline...
Review: i don't get it.the farellys say they want to defend inner beauty yet, they make fun of fat people, ugly people, the handicapped,etc...Gwyneth Paltrow should be ashamed of herself. she must've needed the money bad. The only reason why Jack Black could get hotties in real life is because he's got money and plays in a rock band.simple as that.hardly a chuckle. and i'm being generous.
|
