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Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Black, Jason Alexander, Anthony Robbins, Joe Viterelli, Susan Ward
Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Producers: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Bradley Thomas, Charles B. Wessler
Screenplay: Sean Moynihan & Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly
Cinematography: Russell Carpenter
Music: Ivy
UK Distributor: 20th Century Fox
You either love or hate the Farrelly Brothers, Bobby and Peter.
Since they scored a hit in 1995 with Dumb and Dumber, the writer directors have become one of the most lucrative teams of comedy film-makers in Hollywood.
While Kingpin was nothing to write home about, There's Something About Mary in 1998 hit the mother lode. Painfully funny, despite the fact it went on too long, the movie gave them carte blanche with 20th Century Fox to make whatever they wanted.
They responded with Me, Myself and Irene in 2000. Despite initial fears, this turned out to be one of the funniest movies of that year.
A couple of years later, they returned with Shallow Hal, a surprisingly sweet film which may be shallow by name but not by nature.
As you may have guessed, it centres on Hal (Jack Black), who is, er shallow.
His dying dad persuaded him at a young age to revel in gorgeous women and never settle for second best. Which Hal spent the next few years doing.
His best friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander), is equally shallow, the reason for which is revealed at the finale in a twist so wonderful, you'll be glad you can still be surprised in these days of cliche-ridden scripts.
The movie follows the same formulas for Liar Liar and The Nutty Professor and although the crux of those films were either magical or scientific, here our hero is hypnotised.
One day, Hal becomes stuck in an lift with self-help guru Anthony Robbins. Although a dreadful actor, he understands Hal's predicament with women, decides to hypnotises Hal so, when he meets a woman, he sees not her physical appearance, but her inner beauty.
Soon after, he meets Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow) and is amazed that she is willing to go out with him. However, the girl who looks like a stunning, thin blonde to Hal appears to everyone else to be massively overweight.
In a rather convenient plot twist, Rosemary's father turns out to be the millionaire head of Hal's company and our downtrodden leading man is given a shot at the big time because he seems to have won the girl's heart.
Naturally the spell has to wear off at some point, and yes, Hal realises he has been dating a fat woman and yes, boy does lose girl and naturally they get back together.
You can smell the third act a mile off but while it's hugely predictable, the journey to the finishing line is still an engaging ride, peppered with some likeable scenes.
The cast are fine.
Jack Black is good as the lead, Paltrow is delightful without ever doing anything special and Alexander is a good comic sidekick.
If you want a touching farce, then Shallow Hal has greater depths than its name would suggest, even if the plot is highly predictable.
© 2003 Roger Crow
