Shallow Hal
Harold "Hal" Larson is the son of Mrs Larson (Molly Shannon) and Reverend Larson (Bruce McGill). Reverend Larson was terminally ill and on his death bed at the hospital and heavily sedated. Hal was ab…
Shallow Hal
Harold "Hal" Larson is the son of Mrs Larson (Molly Shannon) and Reverend Larson (Bruce McGill). Reverend Larson was terminally ill and on his death bed at the hospital and heavily sedated. Hal was about 9 years old at the time. Reverend tells Hal never to settle for average in life and to never go for the "routine" girls like he did. He says that he married for love and that was a disaster. He asks Hal to find a classic beauty with a great rack and a perfect behind as that is what the Lord also wanted. Years later, Hal Larson (Jack Black) is a superficial man whose fixation on the physical beauty of women gets in the way of seeing them for their inner beauty. Hal and his equally shallow friend, Mauricio Wilson (Jason Alexander), spend their nights obnoxiously hitting on beautiful women at nightclubs and getting rejected by all of them. Hal holds a steady job at JPS Funds, a financial institution run by President Steve Shanahan but is dismayed after being denied a long-sought promotion. Hal is attracted to his neighbor Jill, who rejects him due to his shallow lifestyle. His colleagues at work tell Hal that he only goes for women who are totally out of his league, but Hal does not seem to get the message. By a twist of fate, Hal becomes trapped in an elevator with famous American life coach Tony Robbins, who after talking with Hal realizes that Hal is only chasing physical beauty and fails to see the inner personality of the person as a result. Tony believes that Hal is being shallow about the way he looks at women. Tony also finds that Hal's notions about women stem from his dad's advise to him on his death bed. Tony hypnotizes him into only seeing physical manifestations of a person's inner beauty. Hal is unaware he's been hypnotized. Hal, not realizing he has been hypnotized, later meets Steve's morbidly obese daughter, Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), the daughter of Steve Shanahan (Joe Viterelli), the President of Hal's company. Rosemary is very fat but because of her kind and generous personality, she appears to Hal as slender and beautiful trophy blonde and he is instantly smitten with her. Used to being overlooked by men due to her appearance, Rosemary initially interprets Hal's interest in her as mocking but begins to date Hal when she realizes his feelings for her are authentic. Mauricio becomes increasingly worried about Hal's new taste in women and convinces Robbins to give him the trigger phrase to undo the hypnosis. During a dinner date, Rosemary tells Hal she has been asked by the Peace Corps to go on a 14-month mission in Kiribati. Mauricio phones Hal while Hal is on a date with Rosemary and says the trigger phrase, "Shallow Hal wants a gal", which serves to break Hal's hypnosis, then arrives at the restaurant and drags Hal out before he can see the real Rosemary. Mauricio confesses to Hal the truth about Robbins' hypnotherapy, but Hal does not believe this until he runs into Katrina, (Brooke Burns), a woman who initially appeared beautiful to him due to her inner beauty, but whom Hal now sees in her normal, unattractive state. Hal begins to avoid Rosemary, who in turn becomes melancholic without him around. Distraught that he has not been seeing the "real" Rosemary, Hal accepts a dinner invitation from his neighbor, Jill (Susan Ward), with whom he once had an unsuccessful date. The two dine together and Jill tells Hal that she has observed him overcoming his shallow nature and that she is interested in dating him now. However, Hal realizes that his true feelings are for Rosemary, who has coincidentally arrived at the same restaurant with her family and sees Hal and Jill seated together. Assuming the worst, Rosemary leaves in tears. Not recognizing Rosemary, Hal walks right by her on his way to the pay phone, ironically to reaffirm her of his feelings. Confused and distraught, Rosemary calls Hal a "psycho" over the phone and effectively breaks up with him. Five days later, Hal is chastised by Mr. Shanahan (Joe Viterelli) at work, who coldly informs him that Rosemary's Peace Corps partner wants to be in a relationship with her again. Hal attempts to find Rosemary, but instead encounters a young patient named Cadence (Brianna Gardner) at the hospital where Rosemary volunteers. Previously, due to Robbins' hypnosis, Hal saw Cadence as a perfect little girl. He now sees that there are severe burns all over Cadence's face. Hal then realizes that he doesn't need hypnosis to see people's true inner beauty. This changes Hal's views on outer beauty in general and inspires him to go after Rosemary. Rosemary decides to leave the country to rejoin the Peace Corps. Hal, during his search for Rosemary, finds that Mauricio had his own reason for stopping Hal's hypnosis: He has a vestigial tail, his shame over which has prevented him from ever getting close to a woman. Mauricio confesses that he was jealous of Hal's happiness and is afraid of starting relationships with women. Hal convinces Mauricio to embrace his abnormality. Hal makes up with Mauricio and decides to try to reconcile with Rosemary. Hal heads to the Peace Corps recruiting office and confronts Ralph, believing he and Rosemary have gotten back together, though Ralph denies this and informs Hal that Rosemary's parents are throwing her a farewell party. Hal arrives at the Shanahan mansion, where a going away party for Rosemary is underway. Rosemary initially rebuffs Hal's presence, but then accepts his apology when Hal professes his love for her. Rosemary says she is still leaving on her Peace Corps mission, but Hal says he is coming with her, having just been sworn into the Peace Corps by Ralph's friend Li'IBoy. Hal and Rosemary reconcile and are cheered by the crowd as they kiss. He tries to carry her bridal-style to the car, but finds he can't lift her. Moved by his gesture and effort, she triumphantly carries him instead. As they drive off, Mauricio meets a woman who loves dogs, and the two walk off together as he wags his tail.
Shallow Hal
Comedy,Drama,Fantasy
Film Details
Harold "Hal" Larson is the son of Mrs Larson (Molly Shannon) and Reverend Larson (Bruce McGill). Reverend Larson was terminally ill and on his death bed at the hospital and heavily sedated. Hal was about 9 years old at the time.
Reverend tells Hal never to settle for average in life and to never go for the "routine" girls like he did. He says that he married for love and that was a disaster. He asks Hal to find a classic beauty with a great rack and a perfect behind as that is what the Lord also wanted.
Years later, Hal Larson (Jack Black) is a superficial man whose fixation on the physical beauty of women gets in the way of seeing them for their inner beauty. Hal and his equally shallow friend, Mauricio Wilson (Jason Alexander), spend their nights obnoxiously hitting on beautiful women at nightclubs and getting rejected by all of them. Hal holds a steady job at JPS Funds, a financial institution run by President Steve Shanahan but is dismayed after being denied a long-sought promotion.
Hal is attracted to his neighbor Jill, who rejects him due to his shallow lifestyle. His colleagues at work tell Hal that he only goes for women who are totally out of his league, but Hal does not seem to get the message. By a twist of fate, Hal becomes trapped in an elevator with famous American life coach Tony Robbins, who after talking with Hal realizes that Hal is only chasing physical beauty and fails to see the inner personality of the person as a result.
Tony believes that Hal is being shallow about the way he looks at women. Tony also finds that Hal's notions about women stem from his dad's advise to him on his death bed. Tony hypnotizes him into only seeing physical manifestations of a person's inner beauty.
Hal is unaware he's been hypnotized. Hal, not realizing he has been hypnotized, later meets Steve's morbidly obese daughter, Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), the daughter of Steve Shanahan (Joe Viterelli), the President of Hal's company. Rosemary is very fat but because of her kind and generous personality, she appears to Hal as slender and beautiful trophy blonde and he is instantly smitten with her.
Used to being overlooked by men due to her appearance, Rosemary initially interprets Hal's interest in her as mocking but begins to date Hal when she realizes his feelings for her are authentic. Mauricio becomes increasingly worried about Hal's new taste in women and convinces Robbins to give him the trigger phrase to undo the hypnosis. During a dinner date, Rosemary tells Hal she has been asked by the Peace Corps to go on a 14-month mission in Kiribati.
Mauricio phones Hal while Hal is on a date with Rosemary and says the trigger phrase, "Shallow Hal wants a gal", which serves to break Hal's hypnosis, then arrives at the restaurant and drags Hal out before he can see the real Rosemary. Mauricio confesses to Hal the truth about Robbins' hypnotherapy, but Hal does not believe this until he runs into Katrina, (Brooke Burns), a woman who initially appeared beautiful to him due to her inner beauty, but whom Hal now sees in her normal, unattractive state. Hal begins to avoid Rosemary, who in turn becomes melancholic without him around.
Distraught that he has not been seeing the "real" Rosemary, Hal accepts a dinner invitation from his neighbor, Jill (Susan Ward), with whom he once had an unsuccessful date. The two dine together and Jill tells Hal that she has observed him overcoming his shallow nature and that she is interested in dating him now. However, Hal realizes that his true feelings are for Rosemary, who has coincidentally arrived at the same restaurant with her family and sees Hal and Jill seated together.
Assuming the worst, Rosemary leaves in tears. Not recognizing Rosemary, Hal walks right by her on his way to the pay phone, ironically to reaffirm her of his feelings. Confused and distraught, Rosemary calls Hal a "psycho" over the phone and effectively breaks up with him.
Five days later, Hal is chastised by Mr. Shanahan (Joe Viterelli) at work, who coldly informs him that Rosemary's Peace Corps partner wants to be in a relationship with her again. Hal attempts to find Rosemary, but instead encounters a young patient named Cadence (Brianna Gardner) at the hospital where Rosemary volunteers.
Previously, due to Robbins' hypnosis, Hal saw Cadence as a perfect little girl. He now sees that there are severe burns all over Cadence's face. Hal then realizes that he doesn't need hypnosis to see people's true inner beauty.
This changes Hal's views on outer beauty in general and inspires him to go after Rosemary. Rosemary decides to leave the country to rejoin the Peace Corps. Hal, during his search for Rosemary, finds that Mauricio had his own reason for stopping Hal's hypnosis: He has a vestigial tail, his shame over which has prevented him from ever getting close to a woman.
Mauricio confesses that he was jealous of Hal's happiness and is afraid of starting relationships with women. Hal convinces Mauricio to embrace his abnormality. Hal makes up with Mauricio and decides to try to reconcile with Rosemary.
Hal heads to the Peace Corps recruiting office and confronts Ralph, believing he and Rosemary have gotten back together, though Ralph denies this and informs Hal that Rosemary's parents are throwing her a farewell party. Hal arrives at the Shanahan mansion, where a going away party for Rosemary is underway. Rosemary initially rebuffs Hal's presence, but then accepts his apology when Hal professes his love for her.
Rosemary says she is still leaving on her Peace Corps mission, but Hal says he is coming with her, having just been sworn into the Peace Corps by Ralph's friend Li'IBoy. Hal and Rosemary reconcile and are cheered by the crowd as they kiss. He tries to carry her bridal-style to the car, but finds he can't lift her.
Moved by his gesture and effort, she triumphantly carries him instead. As they drive off, Mauricio meets a woman who loves dogs, and the two walk off together as he wags his tail..