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Actors: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Black, Jason Alexander, Tony Robbins
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Shallow Hal |
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Hal, a superficial womanizer who only dates beautiful women gets stuck in an elevator with a motivational speaker who hypnotizes him into seeing only inner beauty.
Much to friend Mauricio's dismay, Hal begins dating Rosemary, a 300 pound girl.
Hal, only seeing inner beauty thinks Rosemary is beautiful.
Mauricio talks to the motivational speaker and learns how reverse the effects on Hal.
After seeing Rosemary's true physical appearance, Hal avoids her. However, he soon realizes that he's in love with her. Deciding that her looks aren't important, Hal goes to Rosemary's house to apologize to her and profess his love for her.
--Brandon Swenson, Resident Scholar
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In this comedy a man is way too picky about looks. He meets a self help guru who makes him see the inner beauty in women. He then meets and falls in love with a woman named Rosemary who to him looks like a thin woman, but is really a really fat woman. All his friends can see this except for him. One of his friends then finds a way to stop the spell and it starts to break up the relationship.
--Jack Bauer, Resident Scholar
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Twenty-five years after “10,” thirtysomething Hal (Jack Black) and his buddy Mauricio (“Seinfeld's” Jason Alexander ) still grade women at singles' bars, strictly on looks, “you mean I get the giraffe?”
But, hypnotized in an elevator by self-helper Tony Robbins, Hal learns he needs to see women's inner beauty to become attractive to them. Not five minutes outside, Hal meets an shapely out-of-towner and is dumbfounded that she likes him. But it's when he meets the exquisite Rosemary (Gwynneth Paltrow) do we see his new acuity at work.
The butt of fat jokes, Rosemary is near 300 pounds but of course, a sweet girl. Everyone sees her as the huge woman she is, displacing tons of water in a swimming pool and routinely falling over backwards destroying restaurant booths. Still, Hal sees only her inner beauty (the slender Paltrow), and is sincere about his love for her.
Hal's new outlook becomes more noticeable as others begin to view him as more mature. His great awakening comes when he is propositioned by a neighbor he's desired for years and must decide whether to go with his instinct to “score” yet another chick or to continue to pursue Rosemary knowing Robbins' “spell” will soon wear off.
--Angry Jim Magin, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Shallow Hal |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Kind of comedy
- romantic comedy
How much humor v. drama
- Nearly all humor
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) fat
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Setting
United States
Yes
City?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- full of laughter
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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