Shallow Hal - An Underrated Film

This week I’m going to review Shallow Hal, a 2001 film that criticizes society’s perceptions
on beauty. Jack Black has a leading role in it, and to say the least, he’s sort of perfect for
the role, not to mock the dude or anything but the criteria for what society is looking for in
a man is, well, not Jack Black. Yet his character expects himself to win over these ridiculously
hot models of the opposite sex. He’s a woman woo-er.

We’ve seen these types before. Whether it’s Swingers, or Sideways, it seems like
movies really like the motif of two guys wandering around hoping to get laid.

Hal, Jack’s character, isn’t perfect, but he expects to find a perfect woman. That’s the
irony that sets up the film at the beginning. And there’s actually a psychological reason
present in the opening scene when Hal as a child witnesses his father dying and his final
words to him was that he wouldn’t settle for less. That’s what built this shallow attitude in
him that caused him to go nightclubs and malls to try and hit on whoever he could.

It was a psychological issue that grew in him ever since he was a kid, and Tony Robbins,
a motivational speaker in both real life and in the film, noticed that immediately and took
action after meeting Hal in an elevator.

Even in their conversation, Hal mentions that he doesn’t remember his father very well even
though he died when he was only 12. You can tell that his passing had a huge impact on his
childhood, for sure, by how a giant portion of his childhood had been deleted from memory.

And the more you watch the film, the more you realize it isn’t just Hal who's like this.

The more you watch, the more each character is revealed having some sort of ‘flaw’, some
sort of broken element, that in society’s eyes is hard to accept, hard to love and have a
relationship, even though each of these characters are relatively good people, great
even.

Ralph and Li’boy, for example, when their true selves are revealed, one’s really fat, the
other has psoriasis. But, they’re both Peace Corps volunteers, some of the greatest
human beings you can ever hope to find.

Mauricio is a hilarious, witty, and loyal friend; even if you make the argument that he
betrayed Hal by undoing the magic, he did it because he genuinely believed he was
helping him. He does care about his friends, and has pride. He says he’s scared of women
but that’s not really what he means. He means he’s scared of being judged by a woman, so
he judges them first for whatever shallow reason he can find to avoid the embarrassment.
He’s fairly rich and successful too, like Hal. They may not have it made but their lives are
stable financially. But he has a tail. A literal vestigial tail given to him by a birth defect.

And Rosemary, the surprisingly funny, intelligent, and big-hearted star of the movie...is
300 pounds.

I can go on about Walt and Tanya and Mr. Shanahan, but for the sake of review I’ll just
leave it as everyone’s, as the preachers say, beautifully broken.

What Shallow Hal does right is accepting people despite their flaws, seeing them for
who they truly are on the inside, only to realize their real self is sub-par, disappointing,
but nonetheless, the same person.

The entire movie, Hal is falling in love with Rosemary’s personality which is unchanging
however she may look, which is why it makes no difference how she looks once the movie
reaches it’s climax.

The scene with Cadence, the infirmary patient, was amazingly well done, touching and
warm-hearted, and it couldn’t have been more perfectly shot. That was the scene that won me
over for how great this film really was. By this point, Tony Robbins' spell has been lifted, and
Hal realizes nearly everyone he’s encountered since meeting him are polar opposites of who
he originally met, and seeing Cadence as a bubbly, bright young kid the first visit, he treats
her the same way the second visit, even when he sees the burns, and realizes the truth. It's a
cinematic masterpiece.

The acting choices perfected this film too. I already discussed why I thought Jack Black
fit his role, but Jason Alexander really fits the sidekick character - or maybe that’s just
my bias after watching him in Seinfeld.

Gwyneth Paltrow was just brilliant. She can be a highly comedic actress when she wants to
be.

Can we also talk about the soundtrack please? "Wall In Your Heart" by Shelby Lynne, "Baby,
Now That I've Found You" by the Foundations, "Members Only" by Sheryl Crow, and the
closing scene "This Is My World" by Darius Rucker brought everything home.

This movie is not a great selection if you’re someone who looks for great cinema
techniques (underscores, allegories, jumpcuts, meaningful cinematography, focal shots, etc.),
but if you’re looking for a hilarious movie with an actual message, Shallow Hal is not a bad
watch.

Why this movie is underrated is for the reason that, this movie took a chance. It
challenged society, maybe not critically, moreso as a playful satire, but it did it
nonetheless.

It edified true inner beauty. Its a fine piece of film, but rarely ever talked about. The
2000s had it’s great share of rom-coms, but this one hit you emotionally while at the
same time re-wiring your brain from how you look at the playboy girls in magazines and the
thousands of ads that flash at us throughout the day TELLING US how the perfect girl
or how the perfect guy is supposed to look. And the producers of Shallow Hal wanted nothing
more.