Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4339 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-11-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
After a succession of hugely successfully movies of a lower brow nature, Shallow Hal finds the Farrelly Brothers attempting a slightly more thoughtful film, albeit still tied up in their trademark toilet humour. It's an approach that is not unproblematic but not unsuccessful either, resulting in a film that engages the emotions in a manner that the likes of Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin and There's Something About Mary never suggested possible.

Jack Black is the Hal of the title, a man whose less than commendable attitude to women is suddenly altered by the rather credibility-stretching plot device of a chance meeting with a hypnotist. Henceforth Hal is only capable of seeing the beauty within, a development that allows for much humour at the expense of the less fortunate in the name of some sort of social comment. From it all, however, emerges a quite touching love story with Paltrow's character Rosemary and proof that the Farrellys do have something of a sensitive side--no matter how deep it may be buried. The ending may be woefully predictable, but such is the deftness of touch with which the story is told, that it is still the one we are all rooting for. This is a sickly sweet film in the truest terms.

On the DVD: Shallow Hal comes with a plethora of extras on disc, including a series of mini-documentaries and TV specials, all of which plug the film but offer very little insight. That does come, however, from the handily subtitled directors' commentary, which demonstrates clearly the clash of cultures occurring in the movie. As well as commenting on the physical appearance of every female cast member who passes before the camera, the brothers also pay touching tribute to a colleague who passed away during the shoot and seem to know the name of every single extra and crew member who worked on the project, surely a rarity in these days of big budgets and faceless studios. There is also a large selection of deleted scenes, also with added commentary, a perfunctory music video from Shelby Lynne and a documentary on some of the technical aspects of the film. --Phil Udell

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
Directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly continue their string of hilarious oddball comedies with SHALLOW HAL. Hal (Jack Black of HIGH FIDELITY) is a "regular guy" who has no luck with women because he only wants to be with women who look like supermodels. Then self-help guru Tony Robbins hypnotizes Hal so that he can see a woman's inner beauty. When Hal meets Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), a Peace Corps volunteer who is smart and funny, he thinks his dreams have come true. Others, like Hal's slimy friend Mauricio (Jason Alexander), see Rosie for what she is, a 300-pound woman, but Hal can only see the beauty on the inside, so to him she looks like, well, Gwyneth Paltrow.
Black shines in his first starring role. His engagingly manic energy keeps the film in high gear. Paltrow skillfully plays Rosemary as an obese woman in a thin woman's body. The Farrelly brothers' comedies work so well because they mix off-the-wall humor with characters the audience identifies with and cares about. SHALLOW HAL is outrageous and funny, occasionally exceeding the bounds of good taste, but it's also a touching love story. Fans of Black's band, Tenacious D, will be happy to see bandmate Kyle Gass in a small role.

Customer Reviews

I love it
I absolutely adore this film. It's funny and well-written script. Actors did great jobs, especially Gwyneth Paltrow.
Deleted scenes are good too. It's so shame that they had to be deleted whatever the reasons are.
Jack Black (Hal) was of course funny but Mauricio was even funnier!
I've already watched this film more than 5 times. It still makes me laugh every time I watch it.
Personally, I think this is one of the greatest comedy films ever made and it is definitely worth adding to your DVD collection.

Funny, quite predictable but worth watching
Shallow Hal is a decent film, quite funny (although not really funny) and worth watching if you can get it for a fiver or less. There are some good jokes and although the storyline isn't particularly good, you won't get bored in it. Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow are good in it, as is Jason Alexander (also in Seinfeld) and the Farrelly Brothers are good directors. Although it isn't the best film ever made, it is funny and as I have said, worth buying for the right price.

consistently funny but characters not very engaging
Shallow Hal is interesting to watch and consistently funny.
But it wasn't laugh out loud funny and the characters didn't make a connection with me in such a way that I think I'll remember much about them in a few weeks time if someone asks me about this film.