Shallow Hal is a 2001 romantic comedy film starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Black and Jason Alexander. It was directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, and filmed in and around Charlotte, North Carolina as well as Sterling and Princeton, Massachusetts at Wachusett Mountain.
Plot
Hal Larson (Jack Black), a superficial man, and his equally shallow friend Mauricio Wilson (Jason Alexander), share an interest in beautiful women, and try to act cool and hip when around them, but most women find them obnoxious and want nothing to do with them. At work, Hal's co-workers accuse him of being shallow and caring about nothing but physical appearance (despite being fat himself), and ask him "when he's gonna get it." Hal wants to see women for their inner beauty, but his fixation on physical beauty gets in the way. By a twist of fate, Hal becomes stuck in an elevator with famous American life coach Tony Robbins. Robbins, understanding Hal's situation, hypnotizes him into seeing people's inner beauty, rather than their external selves. Subsequently Hal meets and is smitten by Rosemary Shanahan (Gwyneth Paltrow), his boss's daughter. Rosemary appears to him as slender and beautiful due to her kind, generous nature, but is actually obese. Rosemary, who is used to being overlooked by men due to her appearance, initially interprets Hal's interest in her as mocking and insulting, but later realizes his feelings for her are genuine, and the two begin to date.
Mauricio becomes worried about Hal's new taste in women, especially when he finds Hal is in a relationship with Rosemary. Mauricio believes what Robbins did to him was deceitful and wrong, and he convinces Robbins to undo the hypnosis. One night, while Hal is on a date with Rosemary, Mauricio calls him and says the trigger phrase, "Shallow Hal wants a gal," which breaks Hal's hypnosis. Discovering that his own sight had misled him, Hal, with Mauricio's assistance, begins to avoid Rosemary, whom he initially fails to recognize. Rosemary in turn becomes melancholic without him around.
Distraught that he has not been seeing the "real" Rosemary, Hal accepts a dinner invitation from his neighbor, Jill, with whom he once had an unsuccessful date. The two dine together and Jill tells Hal that she has observed him overcoming his shallow nature, and that she is interested in dating him as a result. Hal then realizes that his true feelings are for Rosemary, and leaves. Rosemary, meanwhile, has arrived at the same restaurant with her family, and sees Hal and Jill together. Not recognizing Rosemary, he walks right by her on his way to the pay phones to call her. She tearfully calls him a "psycho" over the phone and effectively breaks up with him.
Five days later, Hal is chastised by Mr. Shanahan at work, who coldly informs him that Rosemary's Peace Corps partner wants to be in a relationship with her again. Hal attempts to find Rosemary, but instead encounters a young girl named Cadence at the hospital where Rosemary works. Previously, due to Robbins' hypnosis, Hal saw Cadence as a perfect little girl; he now sees that she has severe burn marks over her face. Hal realizes that he doesn't need hypnosis to see people's true inner beauty.
Meanwhile, Rosemary decides to leave the country to re-join the Peace Corps. During his search for Rosemary, Hal finds that Mauricio himself had his own reason for stopping Hal's hypnosis: He has a vestigial tail, the shame over which has prevented him from ever getting close to a woman. Mauricio confesses that he was jealous that Hal found someone with whom he was happy.
Hal makes up with Mauricio, comes to terms with his feelings for Rosemary, and decides to try to reconcile with her. He arrives at his destination, the backyard of the Shanahans' mansion, where a bon voyage party for Rosemary is underway. Rosemary initially rebuffs his presence, but then accepts his apology when he professes his love for her. Rosemary then informs Hal that she is still leaving on her Peace Corps mission, at which point Hal says that he is coming too; he loves her that much. Hal and Rosemary reconcile and are cheered by the crowd as they kiss. He tries to carry her bridal-style to the car, but finds he can't lift her, so she carries him to the car instead. As they drive off, Mauricio meets a woman who likes animals, and the two walk off together.
Production
The Farrelly Brothers admitted that this was a little bit different than some of their previous comedies, but as with all their movies they like for the audience to feel a connection with each of the characters. Shallow Hal was a more emotional movie and the producers spent a lot of time trying to ensure it would not be portrayed as a mere "fat joke" type of movie, but one that has a strong message associated with it.
Gwyneth Paltrow played both roles, slim and fat Rosemary and had to wear a specially designed 25 pound fatsuit and heavy make-up.
Cast
Box office performance
With a budget of $40,000,000, it grossed $70,703,043 in the US and $141,069,860 worldwide, making it a box office success.[1]
References
External links
