Shallow Hal - 12th June 2012

Tuesday Night is Film Night, continues with another Farelly Brothers comedy tonight, as we delve into the film fun of;

Shallow Hal

So another Farelly Brothers comedy, this time from 2001, starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Shallow Hal is the tale of Hal (Jack Black), who is unsurprsingly, shallow.
Indeed he is very shallow when it comes to girls. He attempts to date women who are physically beautiful. Which more often than not ends in failure.

However, a chance meeting with television self-help guru; Tony Robbins. (I'm not sure if this guy is a real-life self-help guru, I think so, it'll be worth a Google).
Anyway, this chance meeting in a broken down lift, gives Tony Robbins a chance to help Hal with his women problem. So Hal is kind of hypnotised by Robbins, into seeing the inner beauty of all the women he encounters.

So, you can now guess what happens next........

Yup, the next woman Hal see's, he see's the inner beauty and not the "real" person, who maybe, not wanting to be offensive here, large, buxom, not pretty (avoid the use of the word ugly!), etc. etc.

This is where he bumps into Rosemary, (Paltrow). To Hal she is the skinny blond beauty, (that The Paltrow is), in reality and in the eyes of others, she is a distinctly overweight blond individual, with huge knickers ( you'll see), that has a heart of gold and the body of a heffer.

I'm not going to spoil the film too much, it is a comedy and there are some hilarious moments, but watch out for the sad bits! Oh yes, you'll be reaching for the tissues at some point. Let's just say that Hal see's the inner beauty in lots of people.

Jack Black is brilliant, as Hal. He is totally believable and perfect for the part and Gwyneth Paltrow is a perfect foil, either as her skinny self, or suited up in the "Rosemary fat suit".

I didn't hold up much hope for Shallow Hal. I was totally wrong. Totally, It was a fantastic film and will be on the "watch again" list.

Oh and watch out for the end credits, a lovely touch. They show all the cast and crew either in photo or video form, so you actually see everyone who worked on the movie. Well, I liked it! 

Enjoy.