Gwyneth Paltrow’s raunchy comedy offended everyone, it’s a wonder she hasn’t been canceled
Author: Chris Snelgrove updated
Jack Black is now considered Hollywood’s go-to actor. Whenever you want to bring a lovable romantic protagonist or a quirky cartoon character to life, he’s your guy. But nearly a quarter-century ago, he teamed up with Gwyneth Paltrow in one of the most politically incorrect films of the modern era, and it’s a wonder he wasn’t canceled over it.
If you want to see just how many laughs this big-format rom-com can pack, you can watch it now shallow hare (2001) For Yourself.
Beer goggles without booze
The premise is shallow hare Bizarre advice from Hal’s dying, drug-addicted father convinces him that he should never settle for an unsexy woman. This resulted in a lifetime of rejections from the perfect 10, but hypnosis sessions from Tony Robbins (yes, this Tony Robbins solved the problem by making sure he now sees women’s inner beauty rather than their outer appearance.
This leads to Jack Black’s Hal falling in love with his boss’s morbidly obese daughter. Unless his love for women can get below the surface, his hypnotic love adventures may ultimately cost him everything.
There’s no fat in these shows
Supporting cast shallow hare There are some fun surprises including seinfeld Iconic Jason Alexander is the protagonist’s best and most neurotic friend. Meanwhile, Bruce McGill (best known as animal house) plays the protagonist’s father, a righteous priest whose deathbed advice to take painkillers turns Hal into a man who always judges books (let alone women) by their covers.
Tony Robbins’ cameo as himself was really fun. His hypnotic powers allow Hal to finally notice how beautiful a woman is on the inside.
Hal is played perfectly by Jack Black (best known as high fidelity), who accomplishes the incredible feat of making his character shallow without making him creepy. Gwyneth Paltrow (best known as Shakespeare in love) is equally perfect as the female lead, who gives a stellar performance despite spending a lot of screen time almost disappearing into her baggy suit.
If the actors had been replaced, this movie would have been an immediate failure. However, the chemistry between Blake and Paltrow turns it into a sweet romantic comedy that happens to have one of the strangest movie premises of the past 25 years.
not just another joke
shallow hare The film made a bigger splash at the box office than “A Fat Kid Throws Cannonballs into a Pool,” grossing $141.4 million on a $40 million budget. After being a box office success, it shot to the top of the video rental charts upon its release on home video (do you guys remember video rentals?).
Speaking of home video, it was only released on DVD for a month and then became available on pay-per-view. It became the best-performing PPV game of 2002 (which was a big deal in the days before streaming).
Critics are divided on Shal
when shallow hare When it came out, it was a little too superficial for critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 49% rating, with critics generally complaining that it doesn’t have enough laughs to go with its (ahem) heavy premise. However, they did praise the film as being warmer and sweeter than other Farrelly Brothers films, including Dumb and Dumb and There’s something about Mary.
I watched shallow hare When it first came out, I was worried it would just be one lazy fat joke after another. While the film does occasionally have some low-hanging fruit, like fat suit punchlines and sickening body jokes, most of its runtime is a surprisingly saccharine examination of love, lust, and every raw emotion in between.
The film’s emotional climax contains a surprisingly touching message. The vulnerability behind it helps shallow hare Ages very well.
Politically incorrect and oddly emotional
“Shallow Hal” is that rare romantic comedy that you can appreciate simultaneously as a sentimental celebration of love and a raunchy celebration of humor. This combination of salty and sweet was enough to win over Roger Ebert, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars while praising it as “very funny, but… also surprisingly touching at times.” Whether you’re in the mood for a slasher comedy, a full-on romance, or both, this quirky classic has you covered.
do you agree shallow hare Is it worth a laugh, or will you end up losing some digital weight by removing it from your streaming queue? The only way to find out is to burn some calories by streaming this cult classic to yourself via remote control. Just make sure you sit back because the movie’s punchline is as big as Gwyneth Paltrow’s character.
