Shallow Hal

Rating:
Summary: I cried for 2 reasons...
Review: I've seen this movie four times now. I dont mind popping the dvd in now and then and I keep finding something about it that makes me laugh louder than the last time. Jack Black is truly one of the funniest men I've seen act on the big screen.He's a genius cause in his very own way he reminds me of the many self-denied hypocrites I've met in life. THe kind that are just funny.

His character,Hal is a guy in desperate need for a girl.He is hypnotised by a man that disallows him to see girls as they physically apppear but as per the inner beauty that lies in them.....The story goes on. Shallow Hal has many fit inducing truly funny scenes.There's a certain scene towards the climax of the film that filled my eyes with tears. Its a simple scene of a girl with a burnt face and a doll.....I wont say more.

I think all in all its one film noone can ignore. It has the words winner screamed and imprinted all over it. A movie that will be ingored but not forgotten. Jack Black is indeed my dad. ;)


Rating:
Summary: Funny film, touching message and great deleted scenes
Review: This is one of those films that doesn't seem to really fit a genre. Is it a romantic comedy, a typical Farrelly Brothers film (like Something About Mary) filled with crass humor, or a drama with a message? I am not sure, but I do know it caused some controversy upon its release for its depiction of obesity. That and it is actually pretty sweet and very funny.

The story involves Hal (Jack Black) who is hopelessly shallow, and seeks only women way out of his league, and for all the wrong reasons. His best friend (Jason Alexander - who plays a character even more shallow than George Castanza) and him are turned down, rejected and dismissed by nearly every woman they try and meet. He meets and gets coaching from Tony Robbins in an elevator, and all of a sudden he is irresistible. The only catch is that he sees only "inner beauty" now. He meets Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow) and falls in love. His friends see Rosemary as she is, quite overweight, while Hal sees her as a slender beautiful model.

The controversy comes from how beauty is depicted. While some may be offended by the reality of how our society treats those who are not as attractive, or may be disabled, I didn't feel the subject was treated poorly here. In fact I was quite surprised, as I expected something much more crass and worthy of the controversy. For those who may have taken a critical view of the subject treatment, I think that view of this film is ironically - shallow. Behind the funny jokes, and great comedy, is a message of what beauty really is. There are some great scenes in here that are actually quite subtle. Hal not only sees "inner beauty", but the opposite as well. Further it applies to everyone new he meets, including some very special kids in the hospital.

The DVD presentation is great. I found the deleted scenes to be some of the best material. In fact, they are so good I would rather see a "directors cut" with them included as opposed to watching them separately. The rest of the bonus materials, including the process they used to put a "fat suit" on Gwyneth, were fascinating. At one point she walked around the Hotel lobby in the make-up and experienced how she was treated as someone very overweight, which for her was quite a shock.

Overall, I think the subject was treated well, and the result is a funny movie that has a good message to look beyond appearances to the beauty inside.


Rating:
Summary: From the guys who wrote & filmed the hair gel gag . . .
Review: Comes this sensitive, heart-felt movie about inner beauty, and not judging people by their looks, which I feel strongly about, having been judged by my looks a lot. I was expecting this movie to feature a lot of overweight Gwyneth, and have all the crude and unfunny jokes that I'm used to from the Farrelly brothers. I was pleasantly surprised.

When so many people are overweight in this day and age, and obesity is practically seen as a disease, this movie sees Gwyneth's character cracking jokes about it, or seeing her natural version ordering a mountain of food. In her fat suit (which took 4 hours to get into and apply makeup with it), it totally changes Gwyneth's image that we're used to - the girl who's normally in need of a good feeding, and too skinny for her own good. ("Hal: So what do you weigh, like 110? 115? Rosemary: [sarcastically] Which one of my butt cheeks are you talking about?") It's not that offensive movie, unless I guess, if you're an overweight person, than I recommend you stay away from this movie, or you're the kinda girls I went to school were who were so pretty, they got guys falling around at their feet, and doing anything for them. Not all women are portrayed as overweight in this - they're portrayed in a stereotypical way of giving them glasses, bad skin, bad teeth and all round ugly. When you're not attractive, you don't get the attention from guys. When you're obese, you're not given the time of day.

Jack Black is hardly Mr Perfect himself, or Hollywood attractive, which makes him so great in this movie. The role would not have been the same with Brad Pitt in the movie, or someone that everybody - apart from me - would swoon over. He plays Hal, a very picky man, who likes everything just right, explained like this: "Well, that face, but with better headlights. You know how hers have kind of dimmed lately? Heidi Klums beams would do. And her teeth. Or, ooh, that Britney Spears girl. She's got great knockers. But she's a tad muscular. Uh, actually, you know what? Her ass would do, too, if she had a better grille. Like, uh, Michelle Pfeiffer back when she did "Grease 2". But she'd have to be a little smilier than Michelle. Kinda like Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, before she got Stamosed. But not as skinny. Someone a little meatier, like Heidi. But without the accent. You know those accents: yah-yah-yah-yah. They really get old fast. You know what I mean. Someone like that."

There are some really tender moments in this, when he sees people for what they really are, or the kids in the hospital, covered in burns, or the fact that Rosemary's mother is in the same shape as her daughter.

I loved the Mauricio role, played by Jason Alexander in this (played Earl in an episode of Friends, who Phoebe convinces not to kill himself). He actually came out with some great and really meaningful lines in this, most of which have to be heard to be believed.

This movie really provoked a feeling in me, that I haven't felt since watching something like Welcome To The Dollhouse. I felt strongly about things that were shown in this movie, and I'm glad I got it now. It's certainly a great movie to cuddle up to someone (or in my case, a cuddly toy) with, on a freezing cold day, when the wind is howling outside. Everyone has their faults, and their flaws. No one's perfect, and if you think you are, watch this movie, or answer to me.

Rating:
Summary: really funny stuff!
Review: this was a really funny movie.

Hal (Jack Black) likes girls just because there pretty. He dosent care if there nice, or caring. He just likes girls for thier looks. So one day, Tony Robbins (himself) and Hal are stuck in an elevator and have a chat. Hal talks about his thing w/ girls and there looks. So Tony, "hypnotisies" Hal, so he can see people through there insides. So Hal, could see a pretty girl, when she could be 500 lbs. because its what is inside, not outisde.

So one day, Hal sees what he thinks is a pretty girl, named Rosemary (played by Gwenth Patrow), and she's nice and caring and loves Hal. Well, it turns out that Rosemary is prolly the worst person u could date becase she is 400 pounds. Thats whats makes this movie fuuny.



Rating:
Summary: Not as degrading as others put it.
Review: I, for one, really like this movie. Hal is shallow for a reason. His father messed with his brain. He doesn't mean to be that way. Also, sure Rosmary is overweight, but she is also a kind, compassionate, witty character. Some jokes are unnessary but overall pretty tame. I also like Walt. I have a disability and this shows that someone with disadvantages can be successful and enjoyable to be around. This movie also shows that someone can turn around in their attitudes towards people. Rosemary's Dad was more degrading to her than Hal was in my opinion too.

Rating:
Summary: 'Hal' pleasantly shallow
Review: First published Stanford Daily, Nov 2001.


The Farrelly brothers have done it again. From the makers of such outré comedies as "There's Something About Mary" and "Me, Myself and Irene" comes "Shallow Hal," a comedy with a conscience. Known for movies that feature imperfect men lusting after gorgeous girls with a few laughs thrown in for good measure, the brothers delve a bit deeper this time, seeking to convince us that fat is fun. Jack Black (the crazy music store employee in "High Fidelity") is Hal, a shallow male (if you'll pardon the redundancy) of modest looks, besotted with breasts and waiflike figures. He prefers a girl with just one large breast to one with half a brain. Needless to say, in the true Farrelly tradition, Hal is a loser when it comes to girls.

Hal's messiah is Tony Robbins, the self-help guru who achieves the impossible and makes him see inner beauty. Ergo, Hal moves in a haze, stripping fat women of the excess padding, glossing over manly moustaches etc., to visualize them as the epitome of pulchritude. One such beneficiary of Hal's x-ray vision is Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), who trades her corsets from "Shakespeare in Love" and "Emma" for a fat suit. Despite being well over 300 pounds and gluttonously devouring any source of fat within range, Hal can only see her as the nubile nymphet of his dreams. His consternation at being in a minority of one in his admiration is palpable. Eventually the blinkers fall off, courtesy his shallower pal, the meddling Mauricio (Jason Alexander). The crux of the film lies in how Hal confronts the fat in his femme fatale.

Black's virtuoso performance as Hal makes us squirm. Rosemary, with the fat suit, is ponderously poignant. She shames us with her starkly evident low self-esteem and tame acceptance of stereotypical notions of what passes off as beauty. If only her character had more flesh than fat, the full range of emotions that obese people experience could have been hung out to dry. By resorting to stilted portrayals in black and white of fat people being angelic do-gooders while ugly non-fat people (the ones in this film, barring Jill, can't be called slim), are shallow shysters, the many shades of gray in between are ignored.

Paltrow took a stroll in a New York hotel with the fat suit on, and has been quoted as saying that "...no one was making eye contact with me, or would even look in my direction. No one wanted to connect with me. It was a profound, very sad and startling experience." Some of that sadness is revealed in her portrayal of Rosemary. However, it would however, be a safer bet that UFOs would land at Stanford than to hope that Hollywood would make us laugh and cry in the same movie.

Paltrow looks as radiant as ever. Rather strangely, she reminds one of Phoebe (of "Friends" fame) when she attempts to be goofy. Jack Black has the makings of a star. His Hal is a flawed bungler who is redeemed solely by an inner core of middle-American harmlessness. Rene Kirby as Walt is a casting coup. His joie de vivre is at the heart of the movie's message. Kirby, an ex-IBM employee, was discovered by the Farrellys in a bar in Burlington, as he plodded along on all fours (owing to spina bifida). The character was specifically written for him. Jason Alexander, chubbier than ever, does not disappoint as Mauricio.

The Farrellys have been known for at least one memorable cinematic moment in their movies - most notable of course, Ben Stiller's nuts and bolt coming in the way of his zipper, and Cameron Diaz's organic hair gel in "There's Something About Mary." This one has a twist in the tail. Eminently enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Shallow Hal a good depiction of a shallow American
Review: Ah, ''shallow hal'' quite possible the worst movie from 2001 and possible the worst movie in Gwenyth Paltrow's career. oh man i don't even know where to start , there are so many contradictions and problems in shallow hal that are obvious at first glance that a review of it is almost unnecessary but here goes.

Note: I will also note that are excellent reviews on this movie, I read a review by another member who basically called this movie , a movie of hypocracy, and I would agree with that 100%. Because myself being a Latin American living in the US for practically all my life have encountered guys like
Shallow Hal,(Nate Howard) a pathetic excuse of men who don't know how to treat a women, yet they whine and cry when women do not want to do anything with the. That's the attitude of a typical stupid American male, but I am anything but typical and I am glad I am not the type of guy that Hal is.


First a background on the movie. the movie pokes fun at fat women that's basically it, now there's some garbage about the theme of the movie which talks about the inner beauty of people. the problem here is that hal larson (the equally bad jack black) never sees this beauty for most of the film. but i'll talk about that later.

The movie as referenced in the chicago tribune and la times was originally boycotted in small cities, and and hated by the the big women/ people in the community. ''Shallow hallow'' is a pretty offensive movie that pokes fun at fat people, and only seeks to hide this fact by having the movie classified as a ''comedy''. The stupid premise in which a guy named ''Hal'' is hypnotized to see the inner beauty of females. even after it opened it was still characters at basically a bashing movie on big people, I won't use the word fat, because when people say someone is fat, they immediately think someone ''choses'' to be fat, when in fact many people's metabolism and body type causes them to have physical problems such as weight. (and no ''shallow hal'' doesn't really mention this).


Now then the plot involves this shallow character named Hal Larson (black) who is hypnotized by well known hypnotist anthony robbins (playing himself). now under this hypnosis hal is supposed to see the inner beauty of people. the problem is that what is seeing as the inner beauty is hiding and camouflaging his outer senses, so basically when hal thinks he sees a thin sized women, he is not, when it's a larger woman. and then having this deception hal's own disgusting sexual attitudes comes to life. 'Man she's hot'' is what Hal thinks when he sees woman, that's what Hal's first reaction is when he sees a woman, so basically what the hypnotist really implanted in Hal's mind is a perception of outer beauty not inner.

Nothing else backs this argument up stronger than Hal's relationship with Rosemary Shananha. Hal meets Rosemary (Paltrow) when he calls a cab. At first glance Hal thinks Rosemary is a beautiful and nice girl whose very attractive. However, we the audience soon see Rosemary's true form she is a 300 lb sized woman. So Hal's relationship with Rosemary is based on physical attraction and manipulation not that inner beauty nonsense that the critics say the movie is about. Now then when Hal's friends Mauricio Wilson (Jason Alexander from Seinfeld discovers Rosemary's form contradictory to what Hal described he flips and so does Hal. When Hal sees Rosemary's true form, he wants nothing to do with her like the slimeball that he is. Rosemary is of course baffled by Hal's sudden termination of their relationship because of course she doesn't know that Hal's been hypnotized to see only the outer beauty of people. When she sees Hal's true motivation for being with her she is obviously hurt and Hal himself is shown as the creep that he is. The Farrelly brothers then seeing as the audience has been offended with this then trap to wrap of the last 30 minutes like a cheap sitcom trying to change Hal's attitude's and the premise and trying to put Hal in a different light, but by then I was disgusted by the movie.

In fact, if you haven't seen the obvious flaw, then here it is again. The fact that Hal is hypnotized is irrelevant since Hal still sees females as objects of desire, and sex which the hypnosis was supposed to eliminate.

The Farrely Brothers add further disgust to this by making a film that totally bashes heavy woman. A couple of key scenes point this
:

* The swimming pool scene'' where we see a petite Rosemary (Paltrow) try to jump of swimming board. Then the scene changes to show Rosemary's true form as the 300lb woman she is and then jumping of the board to produce a tidal wave of waves across Hal. Now this was supposed to be funny. Haha it's funny, if you like bashing heavy people. Then of course there's the bedroom scenes where Hal and Rosemary are going to be intimate and Hal still stupid, bias and hypnotized being babbled by the large bra that Rosemary throws at him. Please. These are just two scenes here that call for a joke at the expense of big women. It's disgusting. The fact that Hal (Black) is likewise a prejudicial and hypocritical guy who is repulsed by Rosemary's true form is also repulsive.

The Farrelly Brother try to make out this Hal character as a good guy but obviously with everything I pointed out proves he is not. If guys like Hal existed in real life, they'd probably be beaten to a pulp for all their prejudices and contradictions.

The Farrelly brothers ridiculously called this a love story but it is not.They also had the nerve to say that movies like ''Shrek'' sold out, when it comes to the weight issue, when in fact, Shrek shows the love between 2 identical characters of same shape and size. By saying that ''Shrek'' and ''Shallow Hal'' are almost the same the Farelly's hoped to shield their movie from criticism but it didn't work. Even Disney executives were mad that the brothers stooped that low.

The movie was especially hated again by people in the community especially big women and it's no surprise.

Yeah you might get a couple of brief jokes here and then, but the movie has no substance and is mean spirited all the way. Speaking of no substance, Jack Black is the worst actor I've seen, he emulates to be a wannabee John Belushi type comedian, but he not even close in coming to the genius that Belushi has.