The Campus Chronicle

Volume 2, No. 3
November 16 & 23, 2001

Shallow Hal’ shows some depth

A Review
By James Stowe

First I have to admit that I went to see "Shallow Hal" expecting — no, craving — 90 minutes of rude humor so off-color that I’d be forced to snarf up swallows of diet cola just to keep breathing from all the laughter.

I went in remembering other moments from the Farrelly brothers: Randy Quaid’s fried egg man-nipples in "Kingpin" and alternative hair gel from "Something About Mary." I came to see enough gross sight gags to give me cramps. But, oddly I didn’t. "Shallow Hal" wasn’t dumb … or dumber. Don’t get me wrong, it still was a Farrelly brothers comedy by way of sideshow. It still populated the world with un-Hollywood things such as spina bifida, Samoans, burn victims and the Peace Corps, but it presented all these elements in a casual, almost nonexploitive way.

The story centers on Hal (Jack Black), a corporate climber who spends his time chasing after cruel dancing models with his best friend Mauricio (Jason Alexander). As fate would have it in simple comedy plots, Hal is soon hypnotized into seeing only inner beauty and promptly falls in love with the morbidly obese Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow). Complications obviously begin to arise. Rosemary turns out to be the daughter of Hal’s boss, Mauricio tries vainly to protect his once-shallow friend, and ex-lovers pop up to, well, complicate things.

The film’s lead actors both did a wonderful job. Black surprised me in his ability to carry the movie. His over-the-top supporting actor roles never exactly screamed leading man quality. His Hal was well-played though: sincere, dedicated and mildly manic. Paltrow’s Rosemary was played equally as well. She portrayed a convincing and wary overweight object of affection. In fact, Paltrow acted as if unaware that she was in the middle of a Farrelly brother’s gross-out comedy. Her performance raised the bar past loosely connected fat joke skits toward cohesive and mildly plausible narrative.

Imagine my surprise that "Shallow Hal" didn’t turn out to be a fat joke-a-thon. There were no beans over the frank, no Puffy wrestling and no disgusting facial hives. What the Farrelly brothers created instead was a light story that rarely hit below the belt but still delivered the goods. At least see it before someone lets slip Mauricio’s dirty little secret.

Stowe is an interactive media designer in the satellite department.