Shallow Hal

Shallow Hal follows Hal Larson, a man who has spent his life judging women by their looks alone, a habit encouraged by a promise he made to his dying father. His outlook is turned upside down when a chance encounter with a self-help guru leaves him hypnotized into seeing only people's inner beauty. When he meets Rosemary Shanahan, he believes he has found the woman of his dreams, unaware that everyone around him sees her very differently. The comedy, which blends romance and fantasy, was directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly from a screenplay they wrote with Sean Moynihan, and it was produced by the brothers with Bradley Thomas for 20th Century Fox and Conundrum Entertainment. It runs 114 minutes.

The Farrelly brothers made the film between Osmosis Jones and Stuck on You, their fifth and sixth directing credits respectively. Jack Black leads the cast as Hal, with Gwyneth Paltrow as Rosemary, and Jason Alexander, Joe Viterelli, Rene Kirby and Bruce McGill in supporting roles. The film carried a budget of 40 million USD and took 141 million USD worldwide, a strong return on its production cost. Audience response has been moderate, with a rating of 6 out of 10 on IMDb from around 154,000 votes and 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 3,260 votes. A critics' rating of 5.8 out of 10 from 134 reviews places professional assessment close to the audience scores.