Shallow Hal
Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Actors: Jack Black, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jason Alexander
PlotA shallow man, focused solely on the physical appearance of women, has his priorities and perspectives challenged after an encounter with a self-help guru. The guru, detecting his superficial value system, hypnotizes him so that he can only perceive the inner beauty of people, making their external appearances match their inner qualities in his eyes. This transformation leads him to see the world and the people around him in a completely different light, challenging his previous judgments and opening his eyes to the beauty that lies beyond physical appearances.
Through this new lens, he meets a woman whose kindness, intelligence, and humor make her appear to him as exceedingly beautiful, although she is conventionally seen as obese by society's standards. Despite the bewildering reactions from his friends and the rest of society, he finds himself falling deeply in love with her, based on what he perceives as her true self. This relationship propels him into a series of enlightening and often comedic situations that force him to confront his previous biases and grow as a person. However, as he navigates through these new experiences, the reality of his situation looms over him, challenging his understanding of beauty and how deeply transformation can truly run.
Writers: Sean Moynihan, Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Release Date: 09 Nov 2001
Runtime: 114 min
Rating: PG-13
Country: United States, Germany
Language: English
Home Video Reviews
Revisited Shallow Hal; not as bad as recalled. Fun, decent for a lazy day. Blu-ray a basic DVD port.
Read our review of Shallow Hal Blu-ray to find out more