Shallow Hal

Do looks matter? A question often pondered by many people. Is it what's on the inside that really counts? Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

From the directors of Dumb and Dumber and There's Something about Mary, this film tells the story of a 'shallow' man, whose name, incidentally, is Hal (Jack Black), as he falls in love with an obese woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) because of her "inner beauty."

When his father was on his deathbed, young Hal was told to only date the youngest, prettiest women. And so, predictably, he does. Together with his best friend Mauricio (Jason Alexander), they chase pretty women. Both of them however are unlucky in love.

But then Hal reaches middle age, having so far gone through his life only appreciating women for what is on the surface, and by chance meets with a self-help guru in a lift who hypnotises Hal into seeing women only for their inner beauty. It is then that he meets Rosemary, an obese woman, and proceeds to falls in love with her inner beauty. Hal only sees Rosemary's inner beauty and this is what makes the film so funny - his friends and family only see the obese woman.

The real test for Hal comes when he is dehypnotised, by his best friend Mauricio: how will he look at Rosemary now? Will Hal continue to date her? Or will he revert to his old habit of only looking at women on the surface? Shallow Hal a cool film consisting of lots of toilet humour and cartoonish exaggerations, at the same time as portraying a deeper touching message.

Stephanie Gates