Review of Shallow Hal (2001) by Thomas P — 16 Mar 2017

A Good Jack Black vehicle, and decently done, almost up there with School of Rock. Pretty well thought out for the most part - except that it leans on constant fat jokes as a theme, but does offer other hilarious and surprisingly poignant moments and is warmly heartfelt at times.

It ends on a few wrong notes which may explain the sour rating, but don't miss the 85 percent that is wildly fascinating, gut bustingly hilarious, and actually tries to muddle out a message about seeing others beyond their facades.

So many creative winks and nudges about being your authentic self and not being limited by your outer appearance.

Tony Robbins the motivational guru makes a high point cameo as himself casting out the assumed 'demon of shallowness' from Hal - a truly inspired hoot to see.

Lots of fun to be had here, so don't be dissuaded by the middling reviews and the dumb stuff at the end.

Honestly, many compare this to Something About Mary, but I do not agree - I didn't like that movie barrage of sex and genital jokes, and in contrast, I really enjoyed the almost revelatory reveals of authenticity here as we follow Hal and his gf thru this one.

A worthy effort.

3 flimsy broken chairs out of 5.