Susan Ward Movie:

Editorial Review:
Coming from the creators of Dumb & Dumber and There's Something About Mary, the sensitivity of Shallow Hal seems like a minor miracle. The codirecting Farrelly brothers haven't forsaken their lowbrow inclinations, but this clever romantic fantasy offers unexpected substance with the same comedic effrontery that made the Farrellys famous. Their antihero is Hal (Jack Black), whose fixation on beautiful women is reversed (after an encounter with self-help guru Tony Robbins) so he can see only the inner beauty of "undesirables" like his new girlfriend Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), now gorgeous in Hal's eyes despite being grossly obese. The movie's handling of this conundrum is sweetly sincere, poking fun at social prejudices while validating those (overweight, homely, disabled) who are often heartbroken by Hal's brand of shallowness. The concept won't hold up to scrutiny (i.e., the movie trades one set of stereotypes for another), but Shallow Hal works as an often hilarious reminder that physical beauty is only skin deep. --Jeff Shannon

Shallow Hal [Region 2] Reviews:
Funny & heartbreaking
2009-11-21 - Hal (Jack Black) is a very shallow Joe-Nobody type fellow who incessantly hits on women who are way out of his league. His criteria for whom he asks out is pretty simple: is she a hottie? If so, she's on his list. If not, then he's not interested.

One day, while stuck in an elevator a charlatan casts a spell on Hal. When he gets off the elevator, he is able to see the inner beauty in women. Women who are homely / overweight appear to be Victoria's Secret models. And, it works both ways: women who are gorgeous on the outside but have despicable personality traits appear to be hags.

There is even more to it than that. Men who are nerdy / ugly and yet have good hearts appear to Hal to be buffed-up athletes. No matter what the person looks like, or what gender they are, Hal sees what kind of persons they are.

Along comes Rose. Rose is very overweight, but to Hal she is absolutely perfect. Fittingly, Rose (both versions!) is played by Gweneth Paltrow, who IS one of the most perfect women on the planet! Paltrow's performance drives the rest of the movie, for she's able to encapsulate the pain of a woman who has been overweight all her life. She's a person who has had to deal with heckling, and has grown wary of it.

SHALLOW HAL is what I would call a dark comedy. It does have some funny moments & its concept is original. However, it's a movie that is a satire on how we as human beings treat each other (myself included). It also points out how all of us have our human imperfections. Because of that, it's a comedy that delivers on the humor and yet is utterly, absolutely heartbreaking @ the same time.

A Celebration Of Individualality
2009-10-24 - Shallow Hal is a funny and touching film about a love-starved fellow(Jack Black)who, with a help from Tony Robbins(who appears as himself), sees women for their inner beauty, there he meets Rosemary(Gwyneth Paltrow), a lovely lady who is really 300 lbs. This movie has many messages that everyone is beautiful and special in their own way. The Farrelys should have won an Oscar for best film for Shallow Hal. It is a wonderful movie.

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder
2009-10-21 - "If you can see it and hear it, isn't that reality?" so asks "shallow" Hal (Jack Black) after he shockingly discovers that his friend has taken him out of guru Anthony Robbin's "trance" to see the "beauty" of his fat love, Rosemary.

Hal, as we know, has been tasked from young by his dying dad to pursue only pretty looking gals. One day, he finds himself stuck in a lift with the famous positive-thinking guru, Anthony Robbins, who zaps him with a new definition of what beauty is and can be defined. So begins Hal's adventures in discovering women and his own self.

This movie makes the point clear that beauty is defined by whoever sees and defines it as such. Culture, society and Hollywood-infested mass media define our mainstream definition of beauty and success from outward appearances and achievements. Most people in today's society just can't keep up with the Joneses but are expected to by society's demands. Tony Robbins allows Hal and us to redefine beauty from at a more deeper or 'spiritual' level as one's inner virtues which transforms one from within. Usually disempowered people could be empowered by the message of this comedy.

Stop chasing the useless Hollywood culture and go join the Peace Corps!

Another reason to watch this movie: Gwyneth Paltrow looks hot and adorable! ;-P
If she's really like that in real life, that's hot!

Now, how about a movie that glorifies skinny people?

Fat people may be the butt of jokes but reality is that they get hitched, they get the chance to find mates! I know a lot of married fat people! What about skinny people? No way, I don't see skinny MEN getting hitched! Females are spoilt for choices. Whatever their size or looks, females of all kinds can easily get mates simply because they're female, no matter what some jokers think, but males don't have too much fun.... that's the reality I see today. How about a little male empowerment? Is there such a theme in any movie?




Surprisingly nice movie
2009-06-02 - I didn't have high hopes for this movie when I saw the opening credits. It's not a movie I ever would have chosen to rent -- Farrelly brothers, Jack Black? It seemed too "high school" for my tastes. However, I was recently stuck with it on a Greyhound bus in Australia. The buses there are equipped with TV screens and DVD players, and drivers often pick a movie or two to show on long trips. Then the passengers are stuck listening to it for however long it lasts, whether interested (or trying to sleep) or not. Usually, these movies are action flicks that appeal to the backpacker set but not to me, and I was prepared for this one to be of the crude comedy genre, since that also would fit into the backpacker meme.

Surprise, it is actually a romantic comedy. As a heavy gal myself, I was uncomfortable for about 5 minutes once I realized what was going on, but was gradually won over because so much of the movie rang poignantly true with my own experience, in ways that inspire thought more than laughs. That scene where Hal walks right past Rosemary at the restaurant, her presence not even seeming to register, is right out of real life for many heavy or otherwise not-conventionally-attractive gals. And when she bursts into tears and runs away, well, some might think that to be overdramatic, but it's real, too. Many of us have as our fantasy to be loved, because we never have been. And when that fantasy seems to be shattered after one's waited a decade or two or three for it, and dared to hope that it might actually be coming true, one's reaction can be strong.

The bus driver's timing was absolutely karmic, because that is exactly the movie that I needed to see at that time. I'd just been dissed by a friend, after I expressed disappointment that I spent over a thousand dollars to come visit him for 4 days and he wasn't making more than a couple hours a day of time for me. Turns out that the "wow, body like a sports illustrated swimsuit model" (at 40+? I beg to differ on that...) thin girlfriend who dumped him last year decided to reconcile with him 3 hours after my plane landed in his town. That meant he had little time to spare for me, lest he risk losing again a woman for whom he quit his job after she gave an ultimatum that it was taking him away from her too much, but who broke up with him anyway after that.(?) Daring to take issue with his sending constant text messages to two other girls when with me, and leaving me hanging, waiting for a call from him (he wasn't answering his phone at all, let alone text messaging with others, when with that girl) for hours, and then cutting short our evening out when the girl called in a panic about a case of hives, I found myself on the receiving end of a TEXT MESSAGE ending our longtime close friendship. What set him off? Apparently my strong emotional reaction to his cutting our last evening short so that he could go help the prodigal girlfriend with her hives.

Funny thing, before he saw me in person a few years ago, we chatted every day online for multiple years and yes, he used the "L" word weeks before I did. He tried to, but could not, hide from me his disappointment when he saw me for the first time and realized I was no size 8. After that meeting, it has been arms-length most of the time and I certainly never again heard the "L" word -- very different from the relationship we had before he saw my physical appearance as I truly am. My inner beauty, such as the grace and real concern for him as a close friend that I displayed when he (after ignoring me for 6 months on the insecure girlfriend's request) emailed me to say he was homeless and jobless, and I treated him like the prince I see him as, putting him up in the larger of two beds in my 4-star hotel room and buying meals for both of us when I came to visit last year, and not saying "I told you so" about the ex girlfriend's poor treatment of him, is apparently overshadowed by my being a size he does not find physically attractive. Real life can indeed be as strange as fiction.

Oh, and to the person who went on and on about guys not falling for fat chicks being a form of natural selection.... the anorectic make poorer bearers of children than do the moderately overweight, as they often suffer from various nutritional deficiencies due to lowered food intake and don't have the muscular structure to support preganancy well. (Check your cultural anthropology books. To many cultures throughout history, a solid build has been an indication of a healthy potential mother.) Also, size (or other physical limitation, such as the guy with spina bifida but tremendous arm strength in the movie) and physical fitness don't always correllate. There are many women 2/3 or even half my size who can't do a 100 mile bicycle ride, or can't do the splits, but I can.

Thumbs up to this movie for telling it like it is for many (not all) not-conventionally-attractive women, and for giving those of us who still dare to dream of being loved, a reason to hope.


Pretty Funny Film With A Good Message
2009-04-23 - Do you judge a person - particularly a woman - by her outward appearance? If you do, you're "shallow" and that's the message played out in this comedy.

The humor in here is good, very funny in spots. There are plenty of jokes and sight gags. If you are obese and very sensitive, then skip this film because you won't appreciate some of the humor. But, if you can laugh at yourself, you'll enjoy it too - and especially the message this film brings in the end.

Jack Black was pretty much of an unknown actor when this came out, but he's well-known now. Gwyneth Paltrow everyone knows. She looked very pretty in here, maybe the best I've ever seen her. Jason Alexander and Joe Viterelli provide good supporting help. By the way, it was strange hearing Viterelli with an Irish accent. This is a guy who almost always plays Mafia types.

The only thing offensive to me was the beginning with some irreverent humor that was not needed, not part of the story, just a cheap shot against ministers. Also, for a lightweight comedy, the profanity could have been less. Can't someone make a modern-day comedy without language and sex issues? It can be done - just look at the classics!

Anyway, this is still a pretty funny story with, of course, a good message about judging a book by its cover.