Shallow Hal (UMD, 2006)

Directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly continue their string of hilarious oddball comedies with SHALLOW HAL. Hal (Jack Black of HIGH FIDELITY) is a "regular guy" who has no luck with women because he only wants to be with women who look like supermodels. Then self-help guru Tony Robbins hypnotizes Hal so that he can see a woman's inner beauty. When Hal meets Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), a Peace Corps volunteer who is smart and funny, he thinks his dreams have come true. Others, like Hal's slimy friend Mauricio (Jason Alexander), see Rosie for what she is, a 300-pound woman, but Hal can only see the beauty on the inside, so to him she looks like Gwyneth Paltrow.Black shines in his first starring role. His engagingly manic energy keeps the film in high gear. Paltrow skillfully plays Rosemary as an obese woman in a thin woman's body. The Farrelly brothers' comedies work so well because they mix off-the-wall humor with characters the audience identifies with and cares about. SHALLOW HAL is outrageous and funny, occasionally exceeding the bounds of good taste, but it's also a touching love story. Fans of Black's band, Tenacious D, will be happy to see bandmate Kyle Gass in a small role.