Video of the Week: 'Shallow Hal'

LOS ANGELES, July 1 (UPI) -- While the Farrelly brothers' 2001 comedy "Shallow Hal" isn't bad, it's definitely a film to rent-and-return, not to buy-and-cherish.

"Shallow Hal," starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow, goes on sale Tuesday for $27.98 list price on DVD (which comes with the usual added featurettes). On VHS, it's priced to rent at $110.99.

Ever since "Dumb & Dumber," moviegoers have been wildly divided over the merits of the Farrelly's tasteless yet ultimately tenderhearted comedies. Both camps, however, found "Shallow Hal" mediocre. Farrelly-haters didn't despise it as much, while Farrelly-lovers laughed less.

The Farrelly's best movie, "There's Something About Mary" opened with a mere $14 million first weekend in 1998, but then went on rake in $176 million domestically. "Shallow Hal," in contrast, enjoyed a $23 million first weekend but topped out with an adequate but slightly disappointing $71 million as its word of mouth proved only so-so.

"Shallow Hal" is a mildly grotesque and sentimental fairy tale, rather like "Shrek," oddly enough.

Hal is a little dumpling of a bachelor who will only date women beautiful enough to be out of his league, (He's played by Jack Black of "Orange County" and "High Fidelity," where he stood out as the derogatory record store clerk). Hal has a spell cast upon him by America's No. 1 motivational speaker Tony Robbins (playing himself, except that here he's equipped with supernatural powers). Hexed, Black can now see only the inner beauty of a 300-pound Peace Corp volunteer (a fine Gwyneth Paltrow, Oscar-winner for "Shakespeare in Love").

We see her mostly through Hal's eyes as her lovely slender self, but occasionally Paltrow dons a Sherman Klump-style fat suit to show us what she looks like to Hal's even more superficial and dumpy-looking best friend (Jason Alexander of "Seinfeld.")

Unlike "Shrek," however, there's more magic in the plot than in watching the movie.

After finding a nearly perfect balance of the crass and the benevolent in "There's Something About Mary," the Farrellys skidded off track in last year's often disgusting "Me, Myself, & Irene."

When that Jim Carey vehicle suffered poor word of mouth, the brothers overcompensated in the opposite direction. "Shallow Hal" lacks the bite of their best work. You've seen the two terrific sight gags in the ads where the willowy Paltrow (as seen through Hal's baffled eyes) takes Hal on a tippy canoe ride and then cannonballs half the water out of the pool. Don't expect much else that's comparable.

Alexander, who appears to be covering his bald pate with black shoe polish instead of a toupee, has some funny lines. The little nebbish confronts the towering Robbins to get him to remove the spell that makes Hal go out with ugly women. Robbins parries, "Who says they are ugly?"

"Bausch & Lomb," sputters Alexander.

Alexander plays exactly the role you want to see him in -- as a clone of George Costanza. Of course, with "Seinfeld" now in syndication, you can watch Costanza six or even twelve times a week on TV, so why pay to rent or buy a George 2.0?

The Farrelly brothers probably should have reversed the casting, giving the veteran Alexander the chance to stretch into a lead role, while letting the younger Black stick with the asinine supporting characters he does so well. While Black's not bad as Hal in the many romantic or serious scenes, he just isn't as funny as his ultra-hip reputation would lead you to expect.

Robbins gives Alexander a counter-spell that forces Hal to see Paltrow as the gravity-challenged lass she actually is. Before true love can conquer all, though, Hal has to first fend off the advances of a gorgeous neighbor. This vixen didn't want to go out with Hal before because she thought he was only attracted to her beauty. Now that she's seen him with fat girls, however, she can't keep her hands off him. (See, I told you this was a fairy tale!)

The satire in "Shallow Hal" lacks fresh insight: men only care about women's looks! Well ... who could have guessed?

In contrast, "Something About Mary" offered an original and dead-on portrait of the modern American man's contradictory vision of the perfect woman. Cameron Diaz's Mary was both all-woman (beautiful, sweet, and loving) and one of the guys (she spends her free time at the driving range, hitting golf balls, eating chili fries, and talking pro football). Somebody with that much of both estrogen and testosterone would probably explode.

Movies like "Shallow Hal" and "Shrek" that preach that looks aren't important are just yanking our chains. By the very nature of the movie medium, that moral makes no more sense in a film than would a song telling you that melody and rhythm aren't important.

Rated PG-13 for a lot of sexual innuendo.