LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The Farrelly Brothers' romantic comedy "Shallow Hal" is the third movie in three weeks from fraternal filmmakers. The Coens' "The Man Who Wasn't There" and the Hughes' "From Hell" preceded it.
Earlier, the Wayans hit it big with "Scary Movie" and the Wachowskis with the "The Matrix." I asked a Hollywood agent why there are so many brother acts these days. "Who else can you trust?" he replied.
Ever since "Dumb & Dumber," moviegoers have wildly divided over the merits of the Farrellys' tasteless yet ultimately tenderhearted comedies. Both camps, however, will likely find "Shallow Hal" mediocre. Farrelly-haters won't despise it as much, while Farrelly-lovers will laugh less.
"Shallow Hal" is a mildly grotesque and sentimental fairy tale, rather like "Shrek," oddly enough.
Hal, a little dumpling of a bachelor who will only date women beautiful enough to be out of his league (played by Jack Black, the derogatory record store clerk in "High Fidelity"), has a spell cast upon him by America's number one motivational speaker Tony Robbins. Hexed, he 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 their huge 1998 hit "There's Something About Mary," the Farrellys skidded off track in last year's often disgusting "Me, Myself, & Irene."
After 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 see a George 2.0 on the big screen?
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! 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 medium, that moral makes no more sense in a movie than would a song telling you that music isn't important.
That lesson is especially dubious coming from the Farrelly Brothers, who are fascinated by human biodiversity. For example, in their last picture, Jim Carrey's wife is secretly impregnated by an indignant African-American, midget college professor. When she runs off with him, she leaves Carrey to raise "his" triplets, who grow up to be scientific prodigies.
Here, Hal is befriended by a friendly, bike-riding, self-made millionaire (played by Rene Kirby), who must hop around on all fours because of spina bifida. Try telling a two-foot tall man that looks don't matter.
Rated PG-13 for a lot of sexual innuendo.
