Rating: 
Summary: AS IF 'THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY' WASN'T BAD ENOUGH!!!!
Review: All right, I just saw this movie like yesterday, so it is pretty fresh in my mind. It didn't really do much for me, any part where I thought I should be laughing, I felt too much sympathy for the person to do so. IT absolutely feeds into every stereotype you have ever heard about heavy people. I think it is offensive in the fact that never in my life have I seen someone jump into a pool and have a boy shoot into a tree or any of the other ridiculously over exaggerated things. In the same, it was not just insulting people who were overweight, but saying that all people who were thin and attractive, were mean, stupid, humourless, and basically had no personality. I mean, if you are into going out and basically getting insulted the entire time and wish to pay to do it too, then I strongly reccomend this movie. On the other hand, if you are a normal person like me, who doesn't find the anguish of others amusing, then you will just stay home and not waste the 10 bucks.
Rating: 
Summary: A feel-good movie by the Farrelly Brothers???
Review: Having been weaned on movies like Dumb and Dumber and Something About Mary, I was caught off-guard by the Farrelly Brothers' latest offering. The controversy surrounding this movie is surprising as the subject matter is dealt with in a very sensitive, touching way. Sensitive? Touching? Farrelly Brothers? What am I saying?? Jack Black is hypnotized by motivational-guru Tony Robbins into seeing the inner beauty in every woman. His just-as-shallow best friend Mauricio, played by Jason Alexander, is bewildered by his new-found attraction to Gwyneth Paltrow (dog-ugly, right?) Although the advertising suggests it, those expecting gross-out humor, fat jokes and childish pranks are going to find this movie lacking. I found myself waiting for the big "climactic" scene that would get everyone talking after the movie was over (remember the big "climax" in Something About Mary?) Nothing ever happened. The pace of the film was remarkably subdued. I'm still trying to figure out if all this so-called controversy surrounding the movie is Hollywood generated just to get people in the theatres. Regardless, it's still worth watching. Just expect a lot of "is that what you think of me" questions from your date.
Rating: 
Summary: It was OK
Review: I saw this movie with a few of my friends and they just loved it. I didn't think it offensive or anything just kinda BLAH! It had its fair share of one liners but it just wasn't a great movie. If you like these shallow unrealistic and uneventful movies, by all means go see it.
Rating:
Summary: Fills with Heavenly Spirit My Humble Muse
Review: I had limited expectations going into this movie, so I was difficult to disappoint, and I wasn't disappointed. The message is a thousand years old-- as old as Beauty and the Beast. We've seen it given serious treatments in everything from The Twilight Zone's "Eye of the Beholder" episode (starring Ellie Mae Clampitt), to Mask, and Eric Stoltz's wonderful performance. So the Farrelly Bros. tried to give us comedy, and yeah, it's a beer comedy at that, but it's hard to blame them for trying, because when you get right down to it, this is a pretty happy message, so why has it been given such dour treatment in the past? I give the Farrelly Bros. some credit just for coming to that conclusion. They set themselves up with a dilemma, however. Here's the paradox: if the theme of the film is to promote the idea that the beauty standard is somehow flawed, then is it right to represent inner beauty with conventional prettiness? Well, if the film is going to be made, choices had to be made. There will always be nitpickers: why is she beautiful if beauty's only skin deep, yada-yada...? they make the point without realizing it. The Farrelly brothers chose to represent inner beauty with conventional beauty, because conventional, cover-girl type beauty, is Hal's idea of beauty. If anyone wishes to call foul, Jason Alexander has a line later in the film that lobs the ball back into the fair zone. When Tony Robbins asks Alexander by what standard Hal's new girlfriends are not beautiful, Alexander says "Bausch and Lomb's!" And this is quite true. To even have the argument, we have to acknowledge some shared vantage point. Yes, in this society, like it or not, there is a standard of beauty. Gwenyth Paltrow, in this film, exceeds all the standards. When I heard she was playing the perfect beauty, I wondered, because I never thought of her as anything more than conventionally pretty, but somehow in this film-- and maybe it just attests to her acting ability-- she is a startling beauty, like a Botticelli angel. She more than earns her Romantic name. She turns out a fine performance that really ties up the film. She is so beautiful, so convincingly unbelieving of it, and so sad when she thinks she has been rejected (about which I will not say more; this is not a spoiler), my heart broke for her. I wanted to jump onto the screen and hug her; that I could not made me so sad I cried, and I can give no greater testament than that to her skill as an actress. So, the Farrelly brothers have set themselves a exceedingly difficult task, and have very nearly succeeded in carrying it out, which for them is quite an achievement. If you watch this movie, you will come away with something to talk about. That's worth the price of a matinee.
Rating:
Summary: Not as shallow as you may think
Review: Shallow Hal may seem like another crude comedy but it's not. Yes, there are some fat jokes but there's also a tender side. It shows inner beauty in a whole new light. SHALLOW HAL is about an average looking guy who likes to date physically beautiful women. His only requirement is that they have the perfect bod. A lot of people think he's shallow. He ends up getting stuck in an elevator with Tony Robbins (the guru guy) and he hypnotizes him. Now, Hal (Jack Black) can only see inner beauty. Now, the fun begins. He meets Rosemary (Gwenth Paltrow) who is over 300lbs, but he sees her as a thin woman. Anyway that's basically how it goes. SHALLOW HAL may not be laugh-out-loud funny but it does have it's moments. It's also touching and sincere.
Rating: 
Summary: Shallow Hal Shines!
Review: Be prepared . . . this IS a controversial film! Why? The film confronts touchy, personal topics such as being overweight and not being beautiful. It also confronts the topics of being supermodel thin and being incredibly beautiful. Most people don't fall into the Gwyneth Paltrow-looking category, so some may feel uncomfortable, especially if insecure about their own appearance. In short, I firmly believe that Shallow Hal is not aimed at poking fun at the unattractive or the obese. Instead, it bravely attempts to showcase certain issues, while giving it a comedic twist to ease any uncomfortable sentiments by viewers. Hal is superficial (and note, he himself isn't considered to be attractive by the script), and he centers his actions and even his life around dating beautiful women. When he is hypnotized, Hal starts to only see the inner beauty of women. Thus, when 350 lbs Rosemary, a geniune, caring, and giving woman, crosses Hal's path, he now sees a beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow. A love interest pursues . . . Overall, the film conveys some wonderful themes and moral messages about inner beauty, the true beauty. Some may be disappointed that this film doesn't include the gross humor of There's Something About Mary, but this film is different. Believe it or not, it's a serious flick with serious issues. Go see it today and make your own opinion. :-)
Rating:
Summary: Quite funny, but slightly offensive.
Review: Shallow Hal came through with a lot of funny parts and good lines. From that respect, the movie was amusing...but there was a lot of sexual exploitation. I thought it was more than unrealistic that Jason Alexander's character would be paired up with a gorgeous sexualized woman. Not to mention, Jack Black was definitely no prize...so I couldn't understand why even the women in his league were reacting to him as if he were a hottie...he's clearly not. Not to mention, his neighbor would ever be interested either. Rosemary worked just right with him...so I didn't find anything particularly endearing about the ending. I think the message in this movie was: Fat and ugly men don't like to date in their own league so when they do fall in love with someone in their league, they are supposed to be given credit for it.
Rating:
Summary: Farrelly Brothers Make Their Best Movie To Date
Review: I've seen other films made by this duo of brothers and it is good to report that they are rising above bathroom level humor and are getting some heart and feeling into their work. Jack Black, who was wonderful as the record store employee in "High Fidelity," gives it all he's got as Shallow Hal, a really obnoxious guy at movie's start who is obsessed with physically perfect women. However, a self-help guru hypnotizes him into seeing people as they exist on the inside instead of the outside. Thus, a beautiful person on the inside looks the same on the outside to Hal and a vile woman on the inside, who is physically gorgeous, looks terrible on the outside to him too. Actually, after thinking about this premise, it seems to me that the world would be a far better and easier place to live in if we were all given this perceptual ability. Gwyneth Paltrow is the wonderful woman who is grossly overweight whom Hal romances. She does a great job in the role. However, Hal's absolute jerk of a best friend, ably played by Jason Alexander wearing the hairpiece from hell, does all in his power to return Hal to his shallow ways.
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: In Defense of a great film
Review: Shallow Hal is generating unnecessary controversy. First of all, the performances are all good. Secondly, the Farrelly Brothers don't always have to be outright mean like the savagely funny "There's Something About Mary" in order to make a successfully told comedy such as "Hal". Yes, I think that there are a few lines that don't make me laugh as much as they maybe should. At first, I thought that the movie was saying that inner beauty must look like supermodel. HOWEVER, I realized something: how is the film supposed to represent Hal's changed perception of women from the outside without giving us a contrast of what everyone else sees to what he sees? Key word: he. This is Hal's idea of beauty, so naturally, inner beauty to him is going to be a knockout. If my idea of inner beauty was a woman who looked like Peter Rabbit, then a movie where I saw inner beauty would have me chasing all over after a bunch of rabbits. But most people wouldn't identify with that. They can identify with what society has defined as beautiful. This isn't forcefully perpetuating a negative societal train of thought. It is allowing people to see Hal's changed perceptions visually while still making sense. When Hal sees everyone for how they really look, he doesn't act like he used to. He doesn't need the "beer goggles" anymore. And that is the point the film is making: No one should need them to begin with. As far as the pratfalls taken by a seemingly skinny Paltrow throughout, they are moments of surprised humor followed by immediate identification and sympathy for Rosemary and her self-consciousness, as well as a chance for us to side with Hal and see his chivalrous actions as perfectly just. I loved "Shallow Hal", from sympathizing with Black's endless energy in his predatory dancing at the beginning (I've been that clueless man), to being happy that he was becoming sincere while making Rosemary feel more self-esteem, to the wonderful ending where she finds true love for her true beauty. Everyone lighten up! I've had plenty of experience being cast out from society, darn it, and this movie was one that made me feel happy, that the one who deserves love and happiness finally gets it. Score one for the good guys!
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