Shallow Hal

"Only a man this shallow could fall in love this deep."

2001 1h 54m EN

😐

6.2

MID

🥫

49%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.2TMDB · 3,276🥫49%Rotten Tomatoes●48Metacritic★6IMDB · 152,718

ComedyFantasyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After taking his dying father's advice, Hal dates only the embodiments of female physical perfection. But that all changes after Hal has an unexpected run-in with self-help guru Tony Robbins. Intrigued by Hal's shallowness, Robbins hypnotizes him into seeing the beauty that exists even in the least physically appealing women. Hal soon falls for Rosemary, but he doesn't realize that his gorgeous girlfriend is actually a 300-pound-not-so-hottie.

“Only a man this shallow could fall in love this deep.”

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Cast

Jack Black
Hal Larson
Gwyneth Paltrow
Rosemary Shanahan
Jason Alexander
Mauricio Wilson
Joe Viterelli
Steve Shanahan
Rene Kirby
Walt
Bruce McGill
Reverend Larson
Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins
Susan Ward
Jill

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bobby Farrelly
Writers: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Sean Moynihan
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bobby Farrelly, shot by Russell Carpenter. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Adam Schlesinger. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Christopher Greenbury shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow and Jason Alexander carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Only a man this shallow could fall in love this deep.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0256380 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bobby Farrelly directs. Russell Carpenter behind the camera. Adam Schlesinger scores. Christopher Greenbury cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.
225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Bobby Farrelly, shot by Russell Carpenter. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Adam Schlesinger. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Christopher Greenbury shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow and Jason Alexander carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Only a man this shallow could fall in love this deep.".
8IMDB entry: tt0256380 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 22 themes, including "overweight", "hypnosis", "overweight man", "rejection".

The technical file

Cinematography: Russell Carpenter
Original score: Adam Schlesinger
Editing: Christopher Greenbury
Production design: Sydney J. Bartholomew Jr.
Costume design: Pamela Withers
Makeup / hair: Cindy J. Williams
Sound: Scott Millan
Stunt coordinator: Martin Grace
Runtime: 114 min · 1h 54m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $141,069,860
Return: 353% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Shallow Hal (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes: 49% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 48/100
IMDB rating: 6/10 · 152,718 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

3 nominations total

Also by

Bobby Farrelly

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-11-13
★ 7/10
Shallow Hal wants a gal. Hal Larsen (Jack Black) only ever dates beautiful trophy women on account of advice he received on his death bed from his father. However, a chance meeting with a self-help guru helps him to see inner beauty first and foremost. Soon after, he falls in love with his boss' severely overweight daughter, which as it raises eyebrows everywhere the couple go, Hal is oblivious as to what everyone else is on about. Tender, sweet and subtle are not words one readily attributes to the Farrelly Brothers, but in Shallow Hal they have managed to blend all three with their penchant for close to the knuckle humour. Gwyneth Paltrow in the dual role dons the fat-suit and once again showcases her unheralded comic timing, while Jack Black proves ebullient and engaging in a role that calls for him to shut out what he is actually meant to be seeing. In support Jason Alexander gets the weasel best friend comedy sidekick role, and is wonderfully abhorrent and good at keeping the cards close to his chest. It's never uproariously funny, but it doesn't need to be, it tickles where it needs to, and it prods the emotional psyche with requisite impact. In a world that has become obsessed with the girth and weight of a person, especially with women - and as it happens is led by Hollywood, Shallow Hal is refreshing entertainment. 7/10
Wuchak2018-12-29
★ 7/10
Fun romcom with a worthy message A shallow man (Jack Black) from Charlotte, North Carolina, falls in love with a 300 lb. woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) after Tony Robbins enables him to see inner merit. Jason Alexander is on hand as his best friend. “Shallow Hal” (2001) is a romcom that’s both amusing and meaningful. The movie stresses the importance of inward beauty, which Hal was incapable of seeing because of his focus on solely physical attractiveness. When the latter is removed through Tony Robbins' mesmerism he's finally able to see the former. Whiney libs that are unable to grasp fantasy and humor might be offended by the fat jokes, but the overall moral is commendable. The flick scores pretty well in the feminine department with Paltrow in her prime and never looking better, speaking as someone who was never overly wowed by her. She’s jaw-dropping here and the movie doesn’t fail to spotlight her beauty. Other beautiful women are featured, like Susan Ward as Hal’s neighbor, Jill. The film runs 1 hour, 54 minutes and was shot in Charlotte, North Carolina. GRADE: B+
Kamurai2020-07-26
★ 7/10
Really good watch, could watch again, and can recommend. Now, I'm honestly not the biggest fans of this cast: Jack Black, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jason Alexander, but that's not to discredit their acting abilities, and I don't just limit that to these performances as everyone did a great job. Because of the complexity of the story itself, they clearly wanted to make this as silly and palatable as possible so everything essentially has rounded corners and rubberized edges. Hal is purposely left as a generic stock character to endear the audience as lesser but relatable, when it's actually a representation of the expectant audience. Mauricio is clearly a similar representation of our self-loathing, self-sabotaging selves: anytime we actually get something we think we might not deserve we take it away. Even Rosemarie is a generic representation of women's self-view (granted it is wildly simplified in this "guy's" movie), and by "blurring" the view between taught beauty (very clearly Jack learned from his dad) and personal connection you're able to find real happiness with people that might actually matter to you past an image. I and the movie aren't "glorifying fatness" (people say weird stuff), you should of course continue to work and be the best version of you that you can be, but "but he/she/it is fat" shouldn't be the only factor. It touches on real issues in the work and that ruins the escapism for me a little bit, but it does it in such a odd, fun, philosophical way it's easy enough to overlook.