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Visitors Review

Kathy7 2013-05-22 21:53:58

I enjoyed this movie!!!

I really did, saw it in the theaters and liked it but after seeing it athome I enjoyed it even more! I think it has a very good message and find itvery funny. I have seen it now about 1/2 dozen times and would definitelyrecommend it. Jack Black is perfect in this and if you liked George fromSeinfeld that is basically the same type of character Jason Alexander plays!

2013-05-22 12:04:48

Very Funny!

This review is from: Shallow Hal (Amazon Instant Video) The movie was very funny, and gave you a new perspective on appearances. It had a lot of sexual innuendos, so I would not let young people watch it.

Darkfalz 2013-05-22 02:55:17

Hal is not the shallow one

I think a lot of people miss the point of this movie. The movie is supposedto be how this really shallow guy finds out that someone can be attractiveon the inside.What everyone seems to miss is that the obese woman is the most shallowperson in this movie, since she would clearly never date someone her ownsize, instead preferring the (to her, quite a catch) the relatively thin andnormal Hal.When we see Hal going through his rejections and humiliations at thebeginning, we also see that Hal is not the only shallow one, but the womenhe was interested in too, and cruel about it to boot.Seems very odd these days that any attempts to send a message that saysoverweight, or short, or plain people can be considered attractive ONLYseems to apply to WOMEN. This film is a perfect example, where a grosslyoverweight woman goes out with a normal man, and we're supposed to believethat he is shallow, and that the woman with the obvious eating disorder is"beautiful on the inside".Just as we'd never see a "plus sized" male model, the whole fat-acceptancemovement seems to ignore men, instead focusing on making fat women appealingto thin (attractive) men.As a pure comedy, it's got its moments. But insofar as trying to prove somekind of point, it misses its mark by a long shot - and we've already seenmany movies where a man is prepared to make a tremendous sacrifice for love.If the movie had instead been about a grossly overweight man who had a womanfall in love with him, then it may have had some place. But since we've beenhit over the head with the message so many times before, it just comes offas promoting a double standard, that it's somehow ok for a woman to beoverweight, but not for men to be.

lambiepie-2 2013-05-21 09:32:01

I loved the ending credits!

Now you know a movie is bad when the best thing you can say about it wasthat you loved the end credits, but I did. I found the montage of crewpictures and footage more entertaining than the film.My problem with Shallow Hal was that is was not up to the Farrelly Brothersbiting humor. I never laughed once, and I am a HUGE fan of their work. I wasreally expecting something here and what I got was a mess.I was thinking that maybe if they took the last twenty minutes of the filmand made it the first and had Hal "recall" how he got to where he was itmight've worked. Then I thought that The Gweneth Paltrow character's showingwas all wrong, maybe we should have seen Gweneth in the fat suit and glimpsof her thin instead of the other way around. I was trying to make thecontinuity work but I just didn't care because it wasn't funnyenough.I found Jack Black miscast as well as Jason Alexander who was nothing butannoying. I was looking forward to seeing Jack Black in a good starringrole, I love his work, but this was not it. Many people will have problemswith the idea of this hugely obese woman getting made fun of around allthese shallow men. Well, duh!!! That's what shallow men DO. That was NOT myproblem in a Farrelly Brothers film, what was -- was that I didn't careabout her because Gweneth Paltrow was boring in this role, fat or thin. Ijust didn't believe her.This film didn't start out as a Farrlley Brothers film, it was mean spiritedbecause the actors were mean spirited and this just missed the FarrlleyBrothers "bite" to me. Very disappointing film.

Jeanette 2013-05-18 23:25:41

I just love this movie. It made me cry and it made me laugh. I really identified with Rosemarie.

This movie is really great. Paltrow's portrayal of the main character wasauthentic even though she is hardly a "plus-size" actress. Even though theFarrely brothers' movies are often obnoxiously raunchy, this time they wentout of their way to make a movie with social conscience. I wonder if theyeven realized what they had done. I highly recommend this movie foranyone.

A.O. Scott 2013-05-18 05:46:01

There are enough moments of demented comedy to make you aspirate your popcorn, but by the end you may find yourself, with some amazement, sniffing back tears.

Liz 2013-05-17 20:14:12

Irritating and offensive (slight spoiler)

I saw this movie a couple of years ago and it offended me for a number ofreasons:I know that they're trying to say it's what's on the inside that counts,which is true, but they're also saying that fat women can't be beautiful,that it's something you have to *look past* in order to see the "trueperson". Like he loved her *despite* her being 350 lbs. If someone is gonnalove me, then they're gonna love all 378 lbs. of me; there won't be anythingto "look past". Another thing that proves my point is that they used GwynethPaltrow for one of the main roles. Now WHY didn't they use a *real* bigwoman like Kathy Bates (Fried Green Tomatoes) or Kathy Kinney (Drew CareyShow)? They used Gwyneth Paltrow in a "fat suit", which further makes mebelieve that they think fat women can't be beautiful or they would have usedsomeone who was really big in order to make their point. Now, I thought thatthe way they showed what torment a lot of us big women go through everydaywith the stares, comments....etc. was good, but they also countered that"good" act with making her eat like a pig and having her chair collapse,which also is a slap in the face to many big people, because not all of useat too much (I'm a vegan, as well), some of us are big because of medicalproblems (like myself) and not all of us have had a chair collapse; Ihaven't. The way that she got made fun of brought back many memories for mebeing an overweight teen and I think that they could have done a LOT of goodwith this movie had they actually gotten input from big people and thentried to expose the stereotyping of big people. I give this movie a 1, itonly perpetuates the stereotypes I have to live with every day as a bigwoman as well as many other heavy people, and I found this movie highlyoffensive.

Louis B. Hobson 2013-05-17 13:56:05

Works far better than it would ever seem possible and even delivers some genuinely touching moments.

kippardue_luvr21 2013-05-15 12:22:54

A Comedy and A Drama

Though this movie had funny parts, it also was a drama. When Hal was nolonger under his spell, he saw what everyone else saw and did not feel thesame way at first. It was very sad for the audience to see the way hereacted to Rosemary when he saw her fat and the part w/ the little girl w/the burnt face in the hospital. But this movie had some funny moments likeIsaid and I thought this was a very good dramedy!

Sean O'Connell 2013-05-14 22:57:51

Paltrow's performance alone is worth seeing, but the rest of the film can't shed its dead weight.

2013-05-11 21:18:03

Not So Much A Gross-out Comedy As a Passable Romance

Jack Black (the very noisy clerk in "High Fidelity") is Hal of the title, who falls in love with Gwyneth Paltrow's character Rosemary. But as he can see only 'internal' beauty of the people he meets, he doesn't know that the actual Rosemary is not what he thinks she is. In fact, Rosemary -- witty, kind-hearted, and sensitive -- is a very fat girl. The Farrelly Brothers stretched this premise to the extreme because, as we know, they are kind of guys who made "There's Something About Mary" which is brimmed with politically incorrrect gags. But in this film the brothers show another side of them: romance.OK, so, there's fewer occasions for the directors to show their trademark gross-out humors. Their outrageous gags are there, but the film gives more stress on the love-story of Hal and Rosemary. Some people say the brothers went soft. Perhaps.Jack Black, despite our anticipation, is very good as Hal, who at first appears as an annoying guy who sees only external beauty of females. He tries to have a date with every girl he meets at disco, but always fails. Except that habit, Hal is a pretty nice fellow you might relate to ... so the film goes on to explain ... if you could swallow this initial premise. Though Hal's character seems off-putting initially, he shows another side when he meets lovely Rosemary. Of course, he doesn't know her truth -- he is given a certain 'power' from Anthony J. Robbins in an elevator -- and Rosemary thinks he is only joking. But as she gradually sees he really means it, a romance starts to bloom until an inevitable development of story comes.Jack Black shows unexpected tender side of his character well, which could have been just a shallow caricature of playboy. We somehow come to like him (if not the film itself), and it is certain that JB scored another point after Stephen Frears film. On the other hand, Gwyneth Paltrow, beautiful as she is, is put in an awkward situation, I am afraid. She (Gwyneth, I mean) is a cute girl, to be sure, but she appears fairly briefly as true Rosemary wearing a fat suit and special make-up. Now, a fundamental question pops up here -- if moviemakers say they do not make fun of fat girls, why don't they try to find a really cute fat girl somewhere, and cast her as the lead, instead of having Gwyneth in a suit?Some of the gags are indeed funny, but they do not play a major role in this film. It's a romance; or, I should say, it tries to be one, and in my book it ends up with a so-so result. However, whether it is a right way to make a romantic film with Oscar-winning Paltrow in this fashion remains a mystery. And whether you can enjoy "Shallo Hal" from your heart, or you are offended by the use of issues like obesity, depends on that score.

2013-05-11 08:48:47

Beauty in the Midst of Stupidity

I finally decided to watch this movie. It has a good premise and a good ending. The idea of teaching a shallow man how beautiful people really are is a great thing. The problem is that they fill this great plot with tons of fat jokes. Yes, we understand she is heavy, but no one breaks large booth chairs at restaurants! I find things like that offensive. I understand a bit of character development when his friend speaks poorly about Rosemary, but so much of the other jokes is just a cheap way to get a laugh at the expense of people who are heavy. So what they are saying is: You should see people's inner beauty no matter what they weigh, but it is ok to laugh at them for their weight. It doesn't make sense to me.

JamBap 2013-05-09 20:45:06

Take the fat with the thin

It seems to me that the prevalent objections (flimsy at that) by most tothis movie is how offensive and hypocritical it is. Ok so it's a bit thin onconsistency and not strictly politically correct, but hey that's what havinga sense of humour is all about. Consider the guy with spina bifida, do youthink that the Farrelly brothers made up every joke in his script?, ofcourse not, these are probably lines he uses every day to help him keep hisdisability in perspective and enjoy down-to-earth relationships with others(at least I hope he does, as that is what every mature, well adjusted andtruly confident person must be able to do no matter what the scale ofimperfection they have, and incidentally something that those with greaterdisabilities have generally learned to develop much quicker in life than theoften seemingly perfect paragons of beauty in society who're always checkingtheir face in the mirror to spot the first sign of a wrinkle or whethertheir butt looks big in their outfit) and if not, I can't imagine he wouldallow those jokes to be said of him in a movie that gets worldwidedistribution and not in everyday life. And from those people I think we canlearn an important lesson because whether we want to accept it or not, nomatter how beautiful we are, at some stage our physical attributes willdecay, and the longer we prolong acceptance of this fact the longer we delaythe agony of the paralysing insecurity that only grows stronger as ourbodies grow weaker and is an intrinsic result of placing greater importanceon aesthetic qualities. And the movie demonstrated that beautifully throughthe juxtaposing of Walt's genuine contentment with Mauricio's ever growingobsession with his receding hairline.What's more it is quite clear that despite the fact by default we are allmore influenced by the physical than we should be, (Hal being yoursatirically quintessential case), he quite realistically - despite thefarcical nature of the film - learned through a shocking realisation (abeautiful moment in the film), his lesson. It wasn't a moment of whimsy itreally did move him deeply and triggered a period of serious self analysiswhich as a result changed him. An experience we would all do well to have.So while it did have it's flaws appreciate that as a whole Shallow Halconveyed an important moral that we could all use some reminding about, soplease reviewers, think before you write all those self righteous reviewsabout how morally bankrupt it is.Now excuse me I have to go check my hair in the mirror.

tbabe29 2013-05-09 09:41:17

Funny at times, slow at others

I don't think I have much to say about this film. I either laughed out loudor I was watching the clock. It's always weird when a movie doesthat.I was not thrilled with the type-casting of Jason Alexander. I think he isso much more capable than playing "George Costanza" again in thismovie.They showed so much in the previews that there was little left to discoverin the actual movie.I actually found myself getting offended for every "pretty" girl who hasbeen labeled "dumb" or "insensitive". This simply isn't true either. Why isit fair game to not be afraid to offend the conventionally beautiful?Whether we like to admit it or not, they TOO have feelings.*spoilers*There were a few very nice moments with Jack Black. When he discovers theREAL girl from the cab ride and gives her a hug. And when he sees thelittle girl from the pediatric burn unit for the first time, warts and all. Those moments were very moving and showed a layer to Jack Black that he hasyet to tap into.Jack Black is very talented. He needs a tighter script.Well, whadda ya know? I DID have a few things to say...6/10

phreeky 2013-05-03 07:30:29

Definitely for the shallow.

Shallow Hal was cute, predictable and very shallow. Jack did a great jobbeing his very funny self, but that did not save the movie. Less thanhalfway through we knew the ending and were just trying to get through it. Ifyou never had a negative thought about yourself, then you will probablylovethis movie, as did most of my friends. On the other hand, if you have anytype of self doubt pass on this one. Jack Black is one of my favoriteactors, but he let me down.

tfrizzell 2013-05-02 14:27:44

I Shall Do My Best.

"Shallow Hal" is a very difficult film for me to critique. There are so manythings I like about this film, but there are also some things that I justcannot get over. The titled character (Jack Black, in probably his finestrole to date) is a likeable young man with a good job and a better heart,but he is very superficial when it comes to women. He wants a beauty andseems to overlook everything else about the fairer sex. Enter motivationalspeaker Anthony Robbins (who is a noted writer/speaker in real life).Robbins' puts a wild spell on Black which makes him see everyone'sinner-beauty. Thus he sees some people as much more physically beautifulthan they really are. Of course Black does not realize the spell has beenput on him and immediately falls in love with the 300-pound daughter(Gwyneth Paltrow in a prosthetic body-suit) of his boss (the under-rated JoeViterelli). A romance blossoms, but friend Jason Alexander (also terriblysuperficial) thinks that Black is making the mistake of his life. A wholechain of events then occurs which tests Black's views on others and his viewon himself as a person. The Farrelly Brothers' had struck gold with insanecomedies like "Dumb & Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary", but thisfilm lacks the comedy of those aforementioned productions. Those films hadreal quiet messages about friendship and relationships, but this film is notas subtle and ends up being a bit of a heavy (no pun intended) morality talethat becomes a somewhat difficult film to sit through during its latteracts. There is a sequence that takes place in a wing of a hospital thatdeals with children that was admittedly very hard to get through. Thisup-and-down variety in "Shallow Hal" hurts the film in the end. The moralitytale never shines completely through due to the forced attempts at laughs. Ido respect the film for its message that we live in a sometimes messysociety that seems to thrive on small-minded superficial people whobasically have hearts, minds and souls made out of paper mache. "ShallowHal" is difficult to rate, but in the end I found it fair. 2.5 out of 5stars.

sophie 2013-04-29 18:35:50

Even the creators lost hope with this one

Well it's another tasteful film from those reliably sensitive FarrellyBrothers who brought us There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber:Shallow Hal. Or should that be Shallow Hell. Created around the flimsiestofstructures of outer versus inner beauty, the story centres on two menperpetually on the prowl for `hot young tail'; unlucky in love Hal (JackBlack) and his equally unsuccessful best friend Mauricio, who actually hasatail. When a chance meeting with a self-help guru exorcises Hal of hissuperficialdemons, our hero suddenly has x-ray vision and can see a woman's internalattractiveness on the outside. Cue dates with oversize girls who've buckteeth, glasses, bad hair and, the most unthinkable of all, big thighs.Strung together with cringeworthy humour as flat as Hal is shallow, eventhecreators lose faith in their gross-out convictions and resort to a cheapattempt at justification. With its cutesy moral ending where good triumphsover evil and our leading man sees the error of his ways and the truebeautyof his beloved (Gwyneth Paltrow in a farcical fat suit), this isn't acomedy- it's more of a horror.

Robert W. 2013-04-29 07:22:00

Shallow Hal is REEEEALLY Shallow...and yet somehow its endearing

I want to hate Shallow Hal. My reason for wanting to hate it is becauseon the outside it appears to be a story about a really shallow guy (whohas ZERO right to be shallow) learning a lesson about inner beauty andnot being Shallow and yet beginning to end the film still manages to beentirely shallow. Everything is done in overboard enormity for ShallowHal making everything seem silly and overblown. So after all this beingsaid I couldn't bring myself to hate any of it really. As shallow asHal and the rest of the movie is, somehow you find yourself smiling,and enjoying watching Jack Black make a fool of himself. I don'tbelieve Shallow Hal is actually trying to truly teach any sort of moralmessage but rather just being rude and funny and silly while perhapsmocking the moral message? I certainly would never watch Shallow Halwith any youngsters of even impressionable teenagers but for an adultcomedy you might just find yourself falling in love with feeble minded,but well meaning Hal.I'm sure the amount of variant opinions of Jack Black could fill asmall Island in the Pacific but I am usually a fan of his performances.He is always silly, always slapstick, and always entertaining. He isabout as serious as Jack Black gets in Shallow Hal and he pulls off therole well. Gwyneth Paltrow is really terrific as the over-sizedRosemary but she also has an over-sized heart. Paltrow as Rosemary issugary sweet and her and Black have a funny and sweet relationshipalthough it certainly doesn't paint Rosemary (the heavier one) in avery good light. Jason Alexander plays Black's best friend and as muchas I think Alexander is a talented performer his role in this film issimply unlikable. He is incredibly shallow, and barely likable butmaybe that is the point I don't know. Still this isn't his bestcharacter for sure. A host of really amazing cameo supportingcharacters make the film even more fun including Joe Viterelli asRosemary's Dad, Tony Robbins as himself, and Zen Gesner in some of thestronger roles.If you really wonder what Shallow Hal is like all you have to do islook at directors The Farrelly Brothers. Their comedy is at the heightof crude humour with sort of a Family Guy like quality to theirstories. Shallow Hal is all about fat jokes, mistaken identities andJack Black looking silly which might not work under all circumstancesbut somehow Shallow Hal makes it work. I can promise you that someonewho is self conscious or sensitive about types of humour will notappreciate Shallow Hal but when all is said and done there is a happyending and a seemingly romantic ending so it might be enough to appeasethe critics of the content but until then it is just entertaining andnothing more. Certainly shallow but oddly entertaining. 8/10

mjuice 2013-04-25 17:12:01

eh

This movie's premise, as I'm sure you know by now, is that "Hal" getshypnotized to be attracted or unattracted to peoples' "insides." A cutepremise, except when you realize MOST people would look different under thisrule. In the movie, fat or hideous becomes attractive, and one slimygold-digging girl becomes ugly. This is a terrible simplification of theidea...Especially annoying was that the only fat people in this movie are beautifulto Hal. I would agree, they are probably more attractive on the "inside",but a lot of overweight people I've known are particularly neurotic, lackambition, have terrible self-esteem, or have an attitude that looks don'tmatter at all, and for those reasons I haven't really wanted to get involvedwith any of them. But don't get me wrong, it's not like I think youraverage attractive person is much more together. But when you startthinking about this, the whole movie falls apart. The worst of all: how come Hal never sees himself as ugly? He's basically ahorrible person.. Oh, and if you think there's more to this movie than the premise, you'rewrong. There isn't. It's just a big "what if," which doesn't make sense,and there's really no more quality to the movie. That, and a bunch of fatjokes.

2013-04-25 10:09:40

funny......ok really funny!!!

well you all know hal he is....ugly...and he sees ugly girls as....pretty girls...or fat girls as... atractive girls...anyways i would pass it on toa friend.!.!.!.!.well i did!! all ofthe people i told said a really good!!it is now ******* favrite movie...and once i made my parents watch it they liked it 2!!