Shallow Hal (2001)
-
51% of critics liked it
(120 reviews) -
52% of users liked it
(557,644 ratings)
Jack Black continues his march to stardom with this typical Farrelly brothers blend of broad comedy and a heartfelt message. Black is Hal Larsen, a shallow man rapidly approaching middle age whose superficiality can be attributed to his father's deathbed admonition to only date young, beautiful… More Jack Black continues his march to stardom with this typical Farrelly brothers blend of broad comedy and a heartfelt message. Black is Hal Larsen, a shallow man rapidly approaching middle age whose superficiality can be attributed to his father's deathbed admonition to only date young, beautiful women. Hal and his best friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander), have taken the advice to heart, but Hal finds all of his physically impressive girlfriends consistently lacking in other qualities that would make them ideal mates. When he bumps into self-help guru Tony Robbins (playing himself), the motivational entrepreneur is intrigued by Hal's predicament and hypnotizes him so that he'll only see the inner beauty of women. Hal is quickly smitten with Rosemary Shanahan (Gwyneth Paltrow), a blonde Peace Corps volunteer who's tenderhearted, funny, and intelligent. She is also gorgeous and meets Hal's basic criteria of outer perfection, but what he doesn't realize is that Robbins' spell is working and he cannot see that Rosemary actually weights 300 pounds. When Mauricio is finally able to snap Hal out of his charmed state, Hal's in love with the inwardly perfect woman and must overcome his obsession with beauty. The script for Shallow Hal (2001) was developed when Peter Farrelly enjoyed the humorous letters written to a mutual friend by Sean Moynihan, a computer software executive who followed the filmmaker's advice to take up screenwriting. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Directed By
- Bobby Farrelly, Bobby Farley
- Written By
- Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Sean Moynihan
- Genres
- Comedy
- In Theaters
- Nov 9, 2001 Wide
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
Critic Reviews
-
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
We've seen so many crummy comedies that try to be There's Something About Mary or something like this. And the Farrelly brothers come to the rescue and show us how it's done.
-
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
The film itself is little more than a series of fat jokes.
-
J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Not only light on laughs but discomfitingly didactic in its disgust.
-
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Makes the case for restricting the Farrellys to mere gross-out movies.
-
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
An ill-conceived, slovenly executed and disingenuous comedy.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
UltraViolet Retailers
Other Retailers
Subscription Services
Cast
-
Gwyneth Paltrow
as Rosemary Shanahan
-
Jack Black
as Hal Larsen
-
Jason Alexander
as Mauricio
-
Joe Viterelli
as Steve Shanahan
-
Rene Kirby
as Walt
-
Bruce McGill
as Reverend Larson
-
Tony Robbins
as Himself
-
Susan Ward
as Jill
-
Zen Gesner
as Ralph
-
Brooke Burns
as Katrina
-
Rob Moran
as Other Hostess
-
Joshua Li'i'Boy Shitani
as Li'iBoy
-
Kyle Gass
as Artie
-
Laura Kightlinger
as Jen
-
Nan Martin
as Nurse Tanya Peeler
-
Sasha Joseph Neulinger
as Young Hal
-
John-Eliot Jordan
as Waiter
-
Jill Christine Fitzgerald
as Mrs. Shanahan
-
Fawn Irish
as Spastic Bella
-
Erinn Bartlett
as Bella
-
Daniel Greene
as Doctor
-
E. Danny Murphy
as Cabbie
- Libby Langdon
- Sascha Knopf
- Sasha Neulinger



