SHALLOW HAL
US, 2001, minutes, Colour.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Black, Jason Alexander, Joe Viterelli, Anthony Robbins.
Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly.
Shallow Hal is a comedy from the Farrelly Bros who had made an impression during the 1990s with a range of films including Kingpin, Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something about Mary. They started the 21st century with Shallow Hal and moved on to such films as Stuck on You.
The comedy style of the brothers is full of pratfalls and physical humour. They also choose stories about outsiders, often with physical and psychological disabilities, and with characters on the margins of society. This is the case here with the character of Rosemary, huge in size, looked down on by most people but finding that she could work for charities and the Peace Corps and get some acceptance. The hero himself, Hal, played by Jack Black with all his idiosyncrasies, thinks himself one of God’s gifts to women but is not exactly the handsome type. This is even truer of his best friend, Mauricio, Jason Alexander.
Tony Robbins was a self-help guru of the period and is seen in an encounter with Hal in an elevator, listening to him, but quasi-hypnotising him into seeing the inner goodness of people. When he sees Rosemary, he sees the perfect get Gwyneth Paltrow, the inner person. It is the same with children disfigured by burns in a hospital, a woman going to look after her grandmother to whom he gives a taxi, the Peace Corps workers, Rosemary’s mother. They all look pretty or handsome – but then later, we see their outer selves. In fact, there was some criticism of the film that it exploited the fat people, the audience seeing Gwyneth Paltrow as herself. However, there are glimpses of her as fat, as well as indications of her weight and collapsing chairs. But the point of the film is seeing everyone from Hal’s point of view and then discovering the truth.
Gwyneth Paltrow gives a sympathetic performance, even when wearing the fat suit. Jason Alexander portrays an obnoxious man who has to learn the truth and see people and their inner lives. It is amusing to see Joe Vitereli, often a Mafia type, this time with an Irish accent.
The Farrelly Brothers make their audiences uncomfortable at first but then, by guiding them through the story and the illustration of characters, help the audiences learn something.
1. The work of the Farrelly Brothers? Their perspectives on life? People on the margins? Sympathy? The earthiness and coarse touches?
2. An American urban story, Hal and his family? Clubs, the world of Hal and Mauricio? Apartments? Office work? Hospital? Women in their world? The musical score?
3. The prologue, Hal’s mother, his dying father and his bequest about women? Jack Black as Hal, his appearance, manner, tics, his own self-image, different from the way others saw him? His attitudes towards women, the clubs, sex, working solely on appearances? The comparison with Mauricio? Hell at work, his friends, their advice? Mauricio and Linda? Jill as the neighbour, Mauricio’s rejecting Linda because of her toe?
4. The chance meeting of Hal with Tony Robbins? Robbins and his reputation at this time, psychology, self-help, the celebrity? The talk in the elevator, Hal and his crass perceptions, Robbins hypnotising him? The change in Hal, meeting Rosemary, but only seeing the perfect Gwyneth Paltrow while others saw her as fat? Seeing the children in the hospital and seeing them later? The hotel owner, as a woman, then seeing her as real in drag? The girl and the taxi? Rosemary’s friends from the Peace Corps? His not accepting others’ reactions? not accepting Mauricio’s?
5. Rosemary and the truth, the audience seeing her as she was, the glimpses, but also seeing her through Hal’s eyes? Her interior self? The physical comedy, breaking the chair, talking about beauty etc? Breaking the bigger chair? Hal’s visit to her parents, his comments about them and her size? Her enjoying Hal’s company, cautions, eating, the pleasant talk with Hal, the sexual encounter? Her being hurt by Hal? Peace Corps, a friendship with them, her decision to go to Kiribati?
6. The character of Mauricio, crass, his talk, girls and their appearances, his being upset about the Tony Robbins effect, going to meet Robbins, getting the words to break the spell? His own self-image? The comic touch with the tail? The final girl and her being fond of puppies?
7. Rosemary’s parents, Hal and his job, discussions, the Hal’s ideas for her father, his business ideas, the presentation on their success, Rosemary’s father and his anger at Hal’s treatment?
8. Rosemary, going to Kiribati, his going to the hospital, the children telling him where she was? Seeing them for their real appearance? The girl from the taxi? Mauricio breaking the spell? Hal on the phone, not seeing Rosemary passing him? His going to the house, finding her, telling her the truth? His choice?
9. The children of the hospital, the severe nurse and her behaviour? Rosemary and her work there? Playing with the children? His going to the party? His talking to Mauricio? Finding the man from Kiribati? The friend not at all handsome? All going to the party?
10. The truth, the declaration? The audience seeing Rosemary as fat, sharing his journey from seeing her and her interior self to seeing her exterior self, the total person?
11. The Farrelly’s accused of exploiting their material – but their sense of realism, their compassion?
