Shallow Hal (2001)
The Farrelly Brothers strike pure gold with Shallow Hal, a dark comedy about finding a person’s inner beauty. There’s a laugh every minute, and it very cleverly allows the wonderful message to sink in through the humor. Jack Black is the titular character, and he and his best friend Jason Alexander enjoy picking women apart based on their appearance. Jack has a chance meeting with Tony Robbins in an elevator, and Tony decides to help free him from his judgmental vision. From then on, Jack no longer sees women’s exterior. If a woman has a good soul, he sees her as beautiful.
During its release, there was some minor pushback from people who didn’t understand the meaning. I can only imagine the protesting and criticism if it were released today. This is not a movie that makes fun of overweight or ugly people. It proves a point about inner beauty. It takes the example of one man who has specific standards of physical perfection. If he were a man who only liked blondes, Tony Robbins would have cast a spell that transformed every woman into a blonde so he could see beyond that. When Jack Black is attracted to a woman’s inner beauty, she becomes beautiful in the standards he values – not the standards the Farrelly Brothers value.
This is an extremely touching, well-acted, thoughtfully directed movie. There are many actors and actresses who play “dual parts”, their character as others see them, and also as Jack Black sees them. Much like The Enchanted Cottage, the direction shifts within the same scene to show you different perspectives.
Gwyneth Paltrow plays Jack’s main love interest, an obese woman with a heart of gold. She’s funny, quick, and “humanidocious”. She volunteers at the children’s hospital, and also works for the Peace Corps. But because she’s obese, Jack would never have looked at her twice he didn’t have Tony’s spell on him. Now, he’s able to appreciate and learn. Even though this movie is extremely funny and every line out of Jason Alexander’s mouth is hilarious, the two leads put a lot of drama into their deliveries. Like a lot of movies, the first time you watch it you’ll be distracted by your laughter; and the more times you watch it the more you’ll be able to appreciate the drama.
More Gwyneth Paltrow movies here!
During its release, there was some minor pushback from people who didn’t understand the meaning. I can only imagine the protesting and criticism if it were released today. This is not a movie that makes fun of overweight or ugly people. It proves a point about inner beauty. It takes the example of one man who has specific standards of physical perfection. If he were a man who only liked blondes, Tony Robbins would have cast a spell that transformed every woman into a blonde so he could see beyond that. When Jack Black is attracted to a woman’s inner beauty, she becomes beautiful in the standards he values – not the standards the Farrelly Brothers value.
This is an extremely touching, well-acted, thoughtfully directed movie. There are many actors and actresses who play “dual parts”, their character as others see them, and also as Jack Black sees them. Much like The Enchanted Cottage, the direction shifts within the same scene to show you different perspectives.
Gwyneth Paltrow plays Jack’s main love interest, an obese woman with a heart of gold. She’s funny, quick, and “humanidocious”. She volunteers at the children’s hospital, and also works for the Peace Corps. But because she’s obese, Jack would never have looked at her twice he didn’t have Tony’s spell on him. Now, he’s able to appreciate and learn. Even though this movie is extremely funny and every line out of Jason Alexander’s mouth is hilarious, the two leads put a lot of drama into their deliveries. Like a lot of movies, the first time you watch it you’ll be distracted by your laughter; and the more times you watch it the more you’ll be able to appreciate the drama.
More Gwyneth Paltrow movies here!