Shallow Hal Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)November 19th, 2001
"Shallow Hal" – Being Overweight Isn't that Funny by Homer Yen
(c) 2001
The lesson that beauty is only skin deep is a potent one. And "Shallow Hal" is a mildly amusing film that tells the tale of a shallow guy named Hal (Jack Black) who eventually realizes this for himself. Yet, obesity is a topic that is difficult to be made light of.
Even the Farrelly Brothers, who brings us this film and whose ribald sense of humor brought us "There's Something about Mary," knows that it is a minefield of a topic. So, they step gingerly through the material with noticeable restraint. Thus, if this film were a bar drink, it would be like Bourbon and water. The lesson's efficacy is evident, but the effort to drive it home feels diluted in this subdued comedy.
Its most didactic moment occurs when Hal imparts an observation during a heated discussion with his self-conscious and equally shallow best friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander). Hal has been dating the kindly Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow). Mauricio wants their relationship to end because he finds her incredibly unattractive. Hal is appalled at his crassness. He asks if Mauricio were truly in love with a girl, would he really care what other people say. Well, when Hal looks at Rosemary, he sees his dream girl. He sees, after all, Gwyneth Paltrow.
But what he doesn’t know is that his perception is quite unique. To everyone else, including Mauricio, they see a 300-pound woman. What we know from the trailers is that on one fateful day, Hal runs into self-help guru Tony Robbins. Before their meeting, Hal had been on a humiliating and sophomoric mission to find a beautiful 20-something woman in the hopes of dating and even bedding her. Concerned with Hal's superficiality, Robbins hypnotizes him. From now on, Hal will see only see everyone's inner beauty.
Most of the humor focuses on what Hal sees versus what everyone else sees. For example, Hal believes that he has hooked up with a trio of women at a local club. To him (and to us as we are seeing this through his eyes), they are all gorgeous cover girls. Mauricio sees them as unsightly and tries to save him by dragging him away. And they do poke fun at Rosemary's weight but only tepidly. For example, she sips her one-quart chocolate shake in four sips or when she sits in a chair, it invariably collapses. Hal, who still sees a slender beauty, finds this very cute if unexplainable. His current perception raises a good question. What would Hal do if he were de-hypnotized?
While we may chuckle at her misery, the film is not an exercise in meanness. In fact, it seems woefully politically correct. And that would account for the lack of genuine humor. If anything, the film tries to establish a sympathetic tone toward those like Rosemary or those people whose looks do not fit conveniently within our personally defined borders of beauty. And the film almost want's to say "shame on all of us for being so shallow." So, the Farrelly Brothers get a star for their sense of kindness. But, given their track record, you will demand more from their twisted sense of humor.
Grade: C+
S: 1 out of 3
L: 1 out of 3
V: 0 out of 3
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