Shallow Hal - surprisingly deep (Shallow Hal (DVD))

Member Name: xalala

Product:	Shallow Hal (DVD)
Date:	10/02/05 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice film, Undemanding, Seeing Gwynnie in a fat suit ;o)

Disadvantages: Slightly too long, unmemorable soundtrack

I watched this rom-com film recently on Channel 4, having seen it once before too. While watching it for the second time it struck me how, well, NICE the whole thing is. And funny - the tag lines of "The Biggest Love Story Ever Told" and "True Love Is Worth The Weight" might make you smirk, but the film will make you smile with a fuzzy warm glow. Almost as much as the thought of seeing Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit will ;o)

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Plot
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Hal basically only dates beautiful women, he's very shallow (as you might expect from the film's title), and judges entirely by appearances. But, in a slight twist, this is entirely because he is following his dying father's last wish, that he should only date beautiful women. I'm not sure what the knowledge of this twist is meant to bring to the film, unless it's to raise the question in the audience's mind that perhaps Hal isn't so shallow after all (er, come on, how daft do they think we are...).

One day, he runs into a self-help hypnotist type who convinces him (without him being aware of it) to only see someone's inner beauty, rather than their outer shell. At which point, things start to get interesting, since he's now only attracted to the exact opposite type from previously (yes, in this film it appears it's pretty much impossible to both look good and be a nice person. Which begs a few questions about Hollywood values, but I'll keep those for another time.). And the girl who really floats his boat is none other than his bosses girl. Trouble in the making, you might be thinking - and you'd be right!

The film follows what happens to Hal as he romances Rosemary, his reactions to people and circumstances, her suspicious family's reactions to Hal, and more. Given that it's a rom com, I'm probably not giving anything away by revealing that ultimately, it's a happy ending in true love-fest style - the interesting bit is how they get there.

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Characters and Acting
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The tabloid headlines when this film was released were pretty much all about the 300-pound (20 stone plus) Gwyneth Paltrow that features as Rosemary, the target of Hal's romancing. Obviously it's all a fat suit, but even so she manages to pull the whole thing off remarkably well. I would have thought it difficult for someone who has not been overweight themselves (and as far as I'm aware Gwynnie hasn't) to portray some of the feelings caused by insensitive comments etc - but I really believed in her character as Rosemary, with all its hidden and not so hidden insecurities and doubt - even in those scenes seen through Hal's eyes, where she is not wearing the fat suit.

Jack Black appears in his first leading role in Shallow Hal, and does a great job. Maybe the character wasn't much of a stretch, but he does a good job of portraying a shallow, materialistic young guy who, we realise, is missing out on the good things in life by being so blinkered in his views on women and physical perfection. Ironically, he himself is no oil-painting, which somehow makes it all slightly funnier. His reactions when he finally learns what has been going on (at the hospital where Rosemary volunteers) are truly touching, something I wouldn't have believed possible in a Farrelly brothers film.

Some of the acting from the kids in the hospital is superb, as is that of many of the supporting characters - all the beautiful people seem slightly damaged in some way, without the audience really being sure why, until it becomes clear towards the end of the film.

Rosie's dad is played well, a big, gruff Irishman who is just trying to protect his little girl to the best of his ability. Hal's sidekick friend Mauricio, played by Jason Alexander, is a great comic creation, someone who can't understand why or how his friend has changed so much, especially when he is still following the beauty on the outside route to happiness:

Hypnotist guy: Haven't you ever heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
Mauricio: Have you heard the song "Who Let The Dogs Out"?

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Directing
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It would be very easy for this film to slip into making fun of overweight or obese people, or patronising them - and that that never happens can only be a tribute to the directing skills of the Farrelly brothers (There's Something About Mary, Me Myself & Irene, Dumb and Dumber), who I certainly associated more with the gross-out or slightly cringe-worthy comedy found in some of their earlier works.

Even though the production doesn't slip into making fun, it's not exactly like there's much of a moral message in there - after all, as far as Hal is concerned, he hasn't changed the way he acts, he's still going after who he considers to be the most attractive and physically perfect women. It's only other people's perceptions of how he's acting that have changed. But this isn't a detriment to the film overall - if the moral message was there, then the film really wouldn't be so entertaining as it manages to be.

At 112 minutes long, I thought that 10 minutes or so could usefully have been cut from the film (eg the prologue with the dying dad), but even so it doesn't feel overly long.

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Thoughts
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This film is good entertainment, fairly lighthearted although it does have some elements that might draw a tear to the eye for some. It's a romantic comedy, with all that that entails, so it's not worth expecting too much in terms of plot twists or dramatic tension.

It's a good example of its genre, and worth the 110-odd minutes of your time it takes to watch (especially if you're male and wanting to get a brownie point or two with your wife or girlfriend). It raises some interesting questions, but shies away from answering any of them - perhaps not unexpected in a film of this type, and by these directors.

The soundtrack is fairly unmemorable, but not horrible, and the film generally jogs along at a comfortable pace. The next joke is always just around the corner, even in the saddest, most touching scenes.

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Other information:
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Given a 12 certificate for language and sexual content. Running time

Released in the cinema in 2001, and widely available on video and DVD - since it's been out so long, it's fairly cheap too, I saw it in Woolies the other day for £5.99 on DVD.

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