Shallow Hal
Tags: brainwashing

Plot synopsis:
Hal Larson (Jack Black) is a superficial man whose fixation on the physical beauty of women gets in the way of seeing their inner beauty. Hal and his equally shallow friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander), spend their nights obnoxiously hitting on beautiful women at nightclubs. Hal's work life is steady, but he is dismayed after being passed over for a long-sought promotion. His love life is nonexistent, as we see when he tries to ask his attractive neighbor, Jill, out for a date. Jill isn't interested; she finds Hal too shallow.
Hal becomes trapped in an elevator with famous American life coach Tony Robbins. While waiting for the elevator to be repaired, Robbins sympathizes with Hal's disappointment but tries to figure out his ideas about women. He hypnotizes Hal into only seeing a person's inner beauty. Hal does not realize he's been hypnotized and later meets Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), daughter of the president of the company where he is employed. Rosemary is morbidly obese, but Hal sees a slender and beautiful trophy blonde. He is immediately smitten by her. His boss is not certain about Hal dating his daughter, thinking that Hal may be trying to climb to the top of the corporate ladder. Used to being overlooked due to her appearance, Rosemary initially interprets Hal's interest as mocking, but begins to realize his feelings for her are sincere. After apologizing to him, they begin to date, which includes a bike ride with Walt (Rene Kirby).
Mauricio, worried about Hal's new taste in women, convinces Robbins to give him the trigger phrase to undo the hypnosis. Mauricio phones Hal, who is on a date with Rosemary, and says the trigger phrase, breaking Hal's hypnosis. While at the restaurant, Rosemary tells Hal she's signed up with the Peace Corps for a 14-month mission in Kiribati. Mauricio confesses to Hal the truth about Robbins' hypnotherapy, but Hal does not believe it until he runs into a woman who initially appeared beautiful to him but whom Hal now sees in her true, unattractive state.
Hal begins to avoid Rosemary, who becomes melancholic without him around. Distraught that he was not seeing the "real" Rosemary, Hal accepts a dinner invitation from his neighbor, Jill. The two dine together and Jill tells Hal that she has observed him overcoming his shallow nature and is interested in dating him now.
Hal realizes his true feelings for Rosemary who has, coincidentally, arrived at the same restaurant with her family and sees Hal and Jill seated together. Assuming the worst, Rosemary leaves in tears. Not recognizing Rosemary, Hal walks right by her on his way to the pay phone to, ironically, reassure her of his feelings, after refusing to date Jill because of his feelings for Rosemary. Confused and distraught, Rosemary calls Hal a "psycho" over the phone and effectively breaks up with him.
Five days later Steve informs Hal that Rosemary’s Peace Corps partner, Ralph, wants to be in a relationship with her again. Hal attempts to find Rosemary, but instead encounters a young patient named Cadence at the hospital where Rosemary volunteers. Previously, due to Robbins' hypnosis, Hal saw Cadence as a perfect little girl; he now sees that there are severe burns all over Cadence's face. Inspired by Cadence, Hal changes his views on the outer appearances of people in general.
Hal, during his search for Rosemary, finds that Mauricio had his own reason for stopping Hal's hypnosis: He has a vestigial tail, which has prevented him from ever getting close to a woman. Mauricio confesses he was jealous of Hal's happiness and is afraid to start a relationship with a woman. Hal convinces Mauricio to accept his abnormality, with confidence.
Hal makes up with Mauricio and decides to reconcile with Rosemary. He heads to the Peace Corps recruiting office and confronts Ralph, believing he and Rosemary got back together. Ralph informs Hal that he and Rosemary are not together and that Rosemary's parents are throwing her a farewell party (and Ralph wasn't invited). Hal, Mauricio, Ralph and Ralph's friend Leboy arrive at the home of Rosemary's parents. Rosemary initially rebuffs Hal's presence, but then accepts his apology when Hal professes his love for her. Rosemary informs Hal she is still leaving on her Peace Corps mission. Hal says he is coming, too, having just been sworn into the Peace Corps right before arriving at the Shanahans' home.
Hal and Rosemary reconcile, cheered by the crowd as they kiss. He tries to carry her bridal-style to the car, but finds he cannot lift her, so she triumphantly carries him instead. As they drive off, Mauricio meets a woman who loves dogs and the two walk off together as he wags his "tail".

Review: And Jason Alexander is always a joy to watch.I think "Shallow Hal" does the best job at conveying the message that beauty is on the inside.
And the soundtrack is pretty good--I have criticized the Farrellys in the past for using crappy music in their sountracks.If you're looking for a good romantic/date movie with some good laughs and a good message, "Shallow Hal" will be an absolute delight.
Jack Black made for a great male lead going from a total jerk into someone that the audience absolutely adored in the end.Hal, a superficial man, and his equally shallow friend Mauricio, share an interest in beautiful women, and try to act cool and hip when around them, but most women find them obnoxious and want nothing to do with them.
Now Hal has to learn on his own that the woman that he loves may not have been all that in the looks department, but is everything that he actually wants in a woman.My main problem with Shallow Hal is it's shallow message, unfortunately Hal, if he wasn't hypnotized, would have never gone for a girl like Rosemary.
I think this one prevailed the most in that department-  I think 'Shallow Hal' is an incredibly sweet, and even more upon second viewing, just a charming, great movie-watching experience.
Why so many people disliked it and why critics panned it is totally beyond me!The movie is about a man named Hal, played by Jack Black, who judges women based on their looks.
They thought it was sweet and charming and bashed the critics for thinking that it was demeaning to any one type of social group because they felt that since Hal chose to be with Rosemary at the end of the film that that meant that the movie itself was teaching everyone some great beautiful lesson about how you can see the beauty within.
The issue I have with the movie is that, in the course of making the point that we should see the inner-beauty in fat people, the Farrellys are implying that by being overweight you are universally ugly.
In fact, in the world of Shallow Hal, if you are fat, you are a well-meaning mammoth who couldn't possibly be fancied unless under hypnosis or after an epiphany.The movie also seems to suggest that the friends of fat people are ugly, and that uglies keep each other's company because no one else will want to associate with them, which is another reinforcement of social divisions.
even if it is a new take on an old idea - character sees someone's inner beauty and is shocked when the magical curtain is torn away.Hal (Jack Black) is someone whose last words from his dying father were dad - under the influence of extreme pain killing drugs - telling him to go after pretty girls and forget about love.
As a result, as an adult, he is constantly going to bars with his equally shallow pal (Jason Alexander as Mauricio) and trying to chat up and dance with girls way out of his league, and he's not even subtle about it.Fate changes when Hal gets stuck in an elevator with Tony Robbins who puts him under a spell that will make him see only the inner beauty in people, not the external packaging.
To me anything more about the plot would be revealing too much; you should see the movie for yourself to fully enjoy it.Gwyneth Paltrow is excellent, so is Jack Black in his first leading role.
Don't be confused by the subject matter of this comedy, this is a very touching movie.A Shallow man (Jack Black) is obsessed with only dating beautiful women, until he is hypnotised in to only seeing the inner beauty of people he meets.
And the movie sacrifices plenty of big laugh out scenes for a really smart story, and supplies just enough laughter without over doing it, unlike EARlier works (Dumb and Dumber - which seemed it's only purpose was to make you laugh).Shallow Hal moves to makin' you care about the characters.
If want a good movie to watch, take a look at this.P.S For those who leave bad reviews, I have a message, if you didn't like it, stop wasting time and don't review it.
Consider the guy with spina bifida, do you think that the Farrelly brothers made up every joke in his script?, of course not, these are probably lines he uses every day to help him keep his disability in perspective and enjoy down-to-earth relationships with others (at least I hope he does, as that is what every mature, well adjusted and truly confident person must be able to do no matter what the scale of imperfection they have, and incidentally something that those with greater disabilities have generally learned to develop much quicker in life than the often seemingly perfect paragons of beauty in society who're always checking their face in the mirror to spot the first sign of a wrinkle or whether their butt looks big in their outfit) and if not, I can't imagine he would allow those jokes to be said of him in a movie that gets worldwide distribution and not in everyday life.
The idea that the titular character Hal (Jack Black) is a shallow guy who gets hypnotized into seeing women as they are inside instead of what they look like on the outside.
He begins falling in love with Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), a fat woman that has a big heart.Alright, that premise doesn't really make any sense because how could Hal know what people are like on the inside unless he knew them intimately, and unless the hypnosis also messed around with his sense of touch and his strength, there's no way he wouldn't realize that his vision is all kinds of screwed up, but let's just get past that.
Hit or miss jokes about Hal thinking that some ladies are hot while everyone around him stands dumbfounded, fat jokes, and visual gags of seeing beautiful women looking at big clothes or plates full of food and they don't even have the courtesy of coming in quickly enough to build off of each other and make you laugh.What saves the movie, and I would say actually makes it legitimately good is the love plot.
And, with a good friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander), constantly reinforcing (with his own shallow perspectives) those put forth by the late Reverend Larson, it has not placed Hal (Jack Black) in good stead with the women he encounters.
For the first time in his life, Hal's eyes are opened, and it isn't long before he meets the most beautiful woman in the world, Rosemary Shanahan (Gwyneth Paltrow), with whom he quickly falls desperately, deeply and passionately in love.
With Black in the title role as a superficial dating single, the film shows us what happens when self-help guru Tony Robbins gives Hal a post-hypnotic suggestion which changes his perception such that everyone's outward appearance is in rapport with their inner beauty.
SHALLOW HAL (2001) *** Jack Black, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jason Alexander, Joe Viterelli, Rene Kirby, Susan Ward, Jill Fitzgerald,  Molly Shannon, Bruce McGill, Kyle Gass, Laura Kightlinger.(Cameo: Tony Robbins as himself) (Dirs: Bobby and Peter Farrelly)They say that beauty is only skin deep.
If that's true then Rosemary Shanahan has it in spades.The latest uproarious comedy of bad manners and gross-out hijinks from the Brothers Farrelly spotlights the superficial Hal (you can't spell shallow without hal) - played beautifully by Black, a truly talented comedian on the rise to the high life in Hollywood - a Wayne Newton coifed, tubby stock broker who only cares about scoring with major hotties the likes of what a supermodel looks like.
After a heartening conversation with his co-workers (Black's Tenacious D bandmate Gass and real-life squeeze and fellow stand-up comedienne Kightlinger) about his ridiculous barometer of the ideal woman Hal finds himself trapped in an elevator with none other than the self-help guru Tony Robbins who convinces Hal through hypnotic suggestion to see the inner beauty instead of the outside appearances with all the women he encounters (and everyone else for that matter).
Black acquits himself nicely as the under the influence Hal and Paltrow shines as a natural comedienne with her deliveries too.The Farrellys have also often incorporated real-life friends and do so daringly in these politically correct times with the introduction of Rene Kirby, Hal's friendWalt, who truly has spina bifida causing him to get around on all fours which at first is unnerving to see onscreen but like Hal, one gets over it, and sees Walt as a full-rounded character whose success belies his handicap and sustains a normal life as a self-made playboy.
After seeing this recently and then coming here to read reviews I am really surprised how many people reacted to this movie with such annoyance and anger.The Farrelly Brothers make sure to build their film on the back-drop of "why" Hal is so shallow...and then even give the person who helped make him that way an "out" for their bad behavior.Jack Black has been hit or miss for me when it comes to movie making but I thought he was great in this one.Gwyneth Paltrow is AMAZING.
First of all she is stunningly beautiful but plays a role as someone "beautifully challenged" spot on.Jason Alexander is horribly miscast...and annoying...but then again I've never liked him in anything except Seinfeld.Anthony Robbins the self help guy makes an appearance as...surprise...himself.
If you watch the DVD extras you figure out she's kinda a goof-ball...and it really suits her role in the movie.Anyway...the movie is supposed to challenge ideas we have about love and attraction...and I completely got it.For me there were lots of laughs all the way through it and real heart underneath it all.PS: Rene Kirby who plays Walt is an awesome human!
It's important, cause in our early years, we have been looking at beautiful and sexy women and it's just something you could never let behind your back, but once you have such an experience as Hal does, you might change your notion about what is real love, what is a good woman or man and what is something you simply wanna be with for more than one hot night.Of course the movie introduces some strange moments involving characters and Jack Black is overacting in some scenes, but it isn't that much of a problem.
When I first saw the previews for the movie "Shallow Hal" I thought it was going to be purely comedy seeing as how the hilarious Jack Black is in it.
A totally self-absorbed man Hal (Jack Black) who just judges women by their bodies, is put under a sort of spell by Anthony Robbins so he sees what they're like inside.
But I found Shallow Hal to be an OK movie, and a few scenes really did move me (i.e. Jack Black and the little girl in the burn unit).
Jack Black is fine as the loser who looks for love on the surface only, and Gwyneth Paltrow does an admirable job in a very challenging role as the overweight but good-hearted Rosemary.
Soon after, he falls in love with his boss' severely overweight daughter, which as it raises eyebrows everywhere the couple go, Hal is oblivious as to what everyone else is on about.Tender, sweet and subtle are not words one readily attributes to the Farrelly Brothers, but in Shallow Hal they have managed to blend all three with their penchant for close to the knuckle humour.Gwyneth Paltrow in the dual role dons the fat-suit and once again showcases her unheralded comic timing, while Jack Black proves ebullient and engaging in a role that calls for him to shut out what he is actually meant to be seeing.
Hal meets the beautiful Rosemary but his friends cannot understand why he has lowered his standards to date a fat woman.The Farrelly brothers make a film that challenges us on our perceptions and our views of what is `normal'?
Well, I suppose I should salute them for making a film that challenges the view of what beautiful is and accepting others for who they are and not what they look like, but it just doesn't sit with their jokes - not only in other movies but also in this one; they want to have their cake and eat it.
As he sees Hal being very shallow, Tony puts a spell on Hal that ever person he sees, he will only see the inner beauty which leads Hal to date a 300 pound woman, Rosemary Shanahan.This is a very good film that presents a great moral in the world we are now in.
SHALLOW HAL (2001) **** (out of ****) The Farrelly Brothers have been known for making offensive films full of gross-out sight gags and filthy humor.
"Shallow Hal" is a small film with a big message, and the Farrelly Brothers orchestrate it to perfection.
I, as a viewer, could feel it too and that was lovely.There're few other scenes too, in Shallow Hal, that wet your eyes.Talking about the acting, I must mention Gwyneth Paltrow(as Rosemary) first.
Rest of the cast like Jason Alexander(as Hal's friend Mauricio), Susan Ward(as Hal's neighbor Jill) and the courageous & admirable Rene Kirby(as Walt) perfectly played their characters.The story has truly captured the wise saying - Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.Verdict: A very uplifting & heart-warming movie.
People's visual appearance is only half of what makes a person who they are (if that), and that's something that Hal learns over the course of the movie.The two leads are great.
Black and Paltrow have excellent chemistry together, and in a film that focuses more on the romance than the comedy, this is especially important.Supporting players like Jason Alexander, the late great Joe Vitrelli, Susan Ward, and of course, Tony Robbins, are great as well.
Shallow Hal is another fantastic movie by the Farrelly Brothers.
Sure, it was one of the funniest movies of all time, but we all have our own love story about some one from our past who we could never get over, and it was central to the film's humor and fundamental sweetness.If "There's Something About Mary" was sweet, then "Shallow Hal" is simply beautiful.
Jack Black does a great job at acting his way through Hal's shallow period and his subsequent love affair with Rosemary.
Directed by the Farrelly Brothers, 'Shallow Hal' is a film that depicts the inner beauty in us, with honesty & earnestness.
Cleary, this Romantic-Comedy has aged well.'Shallow Hal' Synopsis: A shallow man falls in love with a 300 pound woman because of her "inner beauty".The Farrelly Bros have made a film about imperfect people in an imperfect world.
Shallow Hal is a good movie with a well written storyline and a great comedic cast.The movie is written and directed by the Farrelly brothers,who have made some outstanding comedies,and while this may not be some of their best work,it is still filled with loads of hilarious scenes that you'd know while watching that they wrote it.Jack Black is certainly the best part of this movie,he was really interested and confident about his character and it certainly showed on screen,he also had great chemistry with both Gwyneth Paltrow and Jason Alexander.I thought that the jokes about Paltrows character being really fat but the audience seeing her as skinny gets really old after a while,but it just keeps gong until the end of the movie,which was certainly the weakest part of the movie,it's funny for a bit,but seeing a woman with a great figure manage to break a chair or eat a two person milkshake on her own just gets old pretty fast.Shallow Hal certainly has flaws,but it is funny and unique and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and fun comedy.When looks obsessed Hal is hypnotised in to recognising only the inner beauty of women he soon falls for Rosemary,a very obese woman,but he only sees the beauty in her.Best Performance: Jack Black.
I'm almost as shallow as Hal because a big reason I liked this movie was the fact Rosemary looked so good (as Hal saw her).
Judge them for who they are." Now, in conclusion, I highly recommend this romantic, funny, and heartwarming movie that's worth its weight in humor to all you Gwyneth Paltrow or Jack Black fans who have not seen it..
For about the first 15 minutes this film seems to demonstrate these lessons, but then rather contradicts its own message about looking beyond the surface at inner beauty when Hal is obsessed by what he sees as ideal looking women.I would have thought that in America these days obese people are so common that they wouldn't get derided the way that Rosemary does, although if it's a result of being such a glutton you can't help feeling that she deserves it.
The various scenes of Gwyneth Paltrow in scantily clad poses (and some of the supporting actresses) make this film nice to look at, but like many American comedies it suffers from excruciating characters (here Hal's man friend particularly) and over-the-top/in-your-face gags.
Hal(Jack Black) is known to be a very shallow man and only care of what people look on the outside( well, don't we all) One day he gets trapped in an elevator with this guy named Tony Robbins(Anthony Robbins) who hypnotizes Hal into only liking woman for their inner beauty.
Jack Black and Jason Alexander are very funny throughout the movie and their are a lot of good fat jokes.
Paltrow does great in her performance as the inner beauty of Hal's 300 pound girlfriend, Rosemarie, and the film teaches a good lesson that everybody should know.
I think most of the Farley Brother's movies are really funny, "There's Something About Mary" is one of my top 10 favorite films, it was a non-stop laugh with a great story.