Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

adonis98-743-186503 A shallow man falls in love with a 300 pound woman because of her "inner beauty". Despite being a comedy 'Shallow Hal' does in fact have some interesting messages to tell about love and how someone's heart is what matters instead of their face and their body, Jack Black is great as he always is in most of the films i have seen him in and Gwyneth Paltrow despite her dumb confension about her role she does a gret job as well. Overall a great mix of comedic and dramatic elements alongside a talented cast of actors. (A+)

John Brooks It's the sort of mainstream comedy you immediately grasp the concept of just by looking at the poster and tagline. But here, the mere narrative in itself isn't the film. It's not as predictable as anticipated, and despite its total thick mainstream comedy atmosphere it actually isn't that unrealistic, despite the totally far-fetched elements, and the film makers made a real effort to make this stay together fairly plausibly.The criticism: same as for 'Stuck Together' - another Farelly early 2000's film - this comedy is a tad too long though not boring at any moment, focuses on the story a bit too much and thus forgets about the humor; this really could've used a lot more funny having Jack Black in it and the Farellys behind the set. But the morality sticks out in a healthy, pretty handsome sort of way here in the end, rather than it feeling totally facile or force-fed as in other such comedies.

Adam Foidart "Shallow Hal" is a mix of a very sweet and earnest love story with a comedy that often doesn't really work. I was won over by the fantasy love element and I do think it has more appeal than it doesn't. 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. I feel like there's some good potential for humor with this premise, like if say a hot shot celebrity had an "ugly" sister and Hal confused one for the other, or he was a makeup artist (or even funnier, a plastic surgeon) and he started going crazy with people's faces even though they didn't need it. I'm sure you can come up with some good ideas too. Not a lot of the potential is used here. What we do get plenty of is exactly what you would expect from the premise. 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. As a fine male specimen with impeccable features that regularly has to fight the ladies off with a stick, you might not think that a story about an insecure lady who has been ignore her whole life one day discovering a man that falls head over heels for her would necessarily phase me, but it really did. If you've ever felt like you were judged because of what you looked like on the outside, that part of the movie will really drive home and it will make you smile. This comedy could have dropped the ball badly by handling the hypnotism thing the wrong way, making it feel like Hal is simply tricked into loving her, but without giving away what exactly happens during the conclusion, I felt like it handled that potential problem very well. This could have easily become a tasteless, mean-spirited mess, one that gets its laughs at the expense of "unattractive people" and I'm glad to say that it doesn't. The conclusion really pulls it all together and makes the shaky premise work. Overall "Shallow Hal" isn't of the Farrelly Brothers' funniest film but it probably is their most heartwarming. (On DVD, November 12, 2012)

phd_travel This is my favorite of all the Farrelly Brothers movies. It's laugh out loud funny, and yet has a very well delivered message about internal and external beauty without being preachy. I think this one will be a classic in time to come because all the scenes are well written. Gwyneth Paltrow as Rosemary manages to convey emotion through the fat suit and that is not mean feat. Jack Black as Hal is just right for the role that deservedly made him a star. The supporting cast is excellent from Jason Alexander to all those who play all the various characters.I've watched it several times and it's still good. If you haven't seen it - it's hilarious and touching.