Techtite's DVD Reviews!

"It takes a very talented 'svelte' actress to make it believable that she is actually obese in the real world, and for all the times a 'skinny performer in a latex fat suit' has been done for clownish laughs ...her performance here is tender and sympathetic. "

---from the review

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Sidebar ::

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What's with Gwyneth and her butt? If you think being in a movie about shallowness would make an actress feel less insecure, think again. Word is that Ms. Paltrow asked for a "butt double" for her lingerie scene with Jack Black, even though she really wasn't naked, and it isn't like she hasn't been in more risqué scenes. Whatever.

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Shallow Hal

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A Techtite Review

The Film : If you should never bite the hand that feeds you, what about a Farrelly film that tries to shake the hand of the obese, at the same time they kick them in the behind? Such is the paradox when seeing Shallow Hal; a movie in spite of itself, still pleasingly delivers a sweet message about inner beauty that, apparently, the Farrellys were too busy poking fun at to learn themselves.

The story is simple enough; Hal Larson (Jack Black) is a shallow man, who in the typical movie magic of romance comedies, is given a new perspective on life; he will now see people for what they are on the inside, not on the outside. Enter the girl of his dreams, Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), who happens to be quite obese yet is seen by Hal as the beauty she has on the inside; a total babe. Of course, nobody is more surprised at this than Rosemary, who lacks any self esteem and wonders what is wrong with this guy!

What's so unpredictable --particularly from the Farrellys-- is how much inspiration they drag from a plot they obviously want to poke fun at as mush as add warmth to. Rosemary and Hal's first "date," for example, is at the hospital; a successful moment with Hal, since he sees people for who they are on the inside, not their injured exteriors. Camera tricks are also quite ingenious, like when Hal and Rosie walk past a window, and the reflection is of her as she really looks, while we see her as Hal sees her (Gwyneth). There's even a subplot involving Rosemary's dad being Hal's executive boss, and the problems he has in convincing people he is not dating Rosemary to get a promotion; a nice added touch. It's unpredicted that a movie by the Farrellys would succeed in such inspiration.

This also, unfortunately, includes some Farrelly-type "fat" gags, since Hal sees what he sees though the real world still applies. The Farrellys often go a bit overboard with such humor --like when Rosie cannonballs into a swimming pool and a young boy winds up in a tree-- though often, the humor is subtle and effective. The Farrellys create more amusing visual gags, when showing how Hal's new vision works both ways; wait until you see what "Tanya" truly looks like, as opposed to how she looks "on the inside"! It's the other moments --purely unrealistic, and totally crude-- that drag this film's rating to the marginal-thumbs-up margin. It's as if the Farrellys themselves did not believe the truths they preach. Too bad.

Helping this picture to the highest potential is Paltrow and Black. It takes a very talented "svelte" actress to make it believable that she is actually obese in the real world, and for all the times a "skinny performer in a latex fat suit" has been done for clownish laughs (Nutty Professor 2, Austin Powers 2, Big Momma's House, etc.), her performance here is tender and sympathetic. Her reactions to Hal's character --first protective as if he was doing it all for a joke, then astonishment he's actually interested in a date, then the slow coming-out-of-her-shell in progressive dates-- is very effective. Meanwhile, Hal is played by Black very believably as a man who is not so much of a letch as he is naive in the things that really matter in life.

Of course, if done by the creators of a better "Beauty is skin deep" story like Shrek, or by a less cynical director team, this film would have been a smash hit. Unfortunately, it was done by the Farrellys, and while the finale is pure romantic comedy gold, the trip there is filled with potholes. Farrellys would imply these potholes were caused by Rosemary, and not by their shoddy directing. Ha-ha; very funny, guys.

The DVD :  First, there's the two cable specials that promoted the film: HBO's "First Look," and Comedy Central's "Reel Comedy: Shallow Hal." More amusing, however, is "Seeing Though The Layers," a brand new 12-minute featurette which offers a quite humorous look at all the make-up used to make key characters look like their "real" vs. not-so-real counterparts. While Gwyneth did indeed have a full-figured body double for stunts, nearly all the characters you see Hal meet are the same actor, in both "real" and "not real" roles. Remember the supermodel he meets near the beginning of the film, only to see her with different hair, facial features, and teeth later on? That was the same actress in make up. It sounds obvious, yet it really fooled me when I first saw the movie.

Added to this are deleted scenes --more on them next-- and a 2 and a half minute "In at the deep end with Shallow Hal," which offers a look at the lengths they had to go for that one pool scene. Added to this are two trailers for the film, and an additional promo they used for the music of the film. Shelby Lynne's "Wall in Your Heart" music video tops off these other bonus features.

Now for the deleted scenes. My take...? Worth seeing, though they did need to be deleted, for continuity in the film itself. There's 11 in all, starting with short moments when: Hal goes out to scream "Guess who got promoted" before hearing he hadn't, a moment with Roemary and Hal in bed when her side collapses, the cheesy gym joke where the handicapped Rene is using a treadmill with his hands and not his feet (which also includes a scene when he asks Jill for a date just so he can say he forgot he had plans when she says yes), a moment when Rene turns out to be underneath the cab his date drives in on, and one of the best deleted scenes, when Hal and friends try to get a date at a sorority, only to be barraged with some of the funniest retorts I ever heard (my favorite is one aimed at Jason Alexander from a 6-foot supermodel type; "Can't you hear me from down there? I said NO!").

Additional deleted scenes can be viewed by clicking the arrow underneath the first deleted scene menu. There's a moment when Rene sings in the bar he and Hal visit during their double date. Then there's the moment only hinted at in the film, when Hal sees Rosie approaching him from far away, and runs in the other direction because he's afraid to see her as she really looks at the time. A deleted scene involving the under- appreciated comedienne Laura Kightlinger has Hal asking her to hook her up near the beginning of the movie; a scene made more amusing, because they have dated in real life. There's also a scene when Hal, now knowing the "ugliness deep inside" Rene's new pretty girlfriend Tanya, tells him to be careful. Topping off the deleted moments is a scene when Hal punches his friend for going over the line with his crude comments, and a scene when Hal is accosted by an amorous dog that lasts for all of 5 seconds and makes no sense at all, even as a deleted scene.

There's also an audio commentary by the Farrellys, though without the lead actors, it isn't quite the same. That's okay, though. Because even if I didn't make a good enough point to see the film in the film's review above, this DVD sure proves to be good enough reason to give the disc version a look. For me, I was very pleasantly surprised. 

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