Shallow Hal is one of the many memorable comedies by the genius Farrelly brothers. While I consider a lot of their other films to be stronger works and better comedies, I still liked Shallow Hal a decent bit a quarter of a century ago.

Jack Black plays Harold “Hal” Larson, a young man who isn’t particularly handsome himself, yet he holds extremely high standards for women and has little tolerance for anything that doesn’t meet his ideal statistics.

One day, Hal falls under a sort of magical trance, causing him to see only people’s “inner beauty.” That’s when he meets Rosie—played by Gwyneth Paltrow—whom he perceives as slim and beautiful.

But in reality, Rosie is a VERY plus-size woman, something Hal hilariously (and sometimes absurdly) misses due to his altered perception. Clues like her holding giant plus-size underwear or causing a big splash in the pool go completely unnoticed by him.

That said, Shallow Hal has not aged well—especially by today’s standards. The early 2000s still clung to rigid and unrealistic beauty ideals, and back then, anorexic figures were often held up as the norm. Having a plus-size character be the butt of so many jokes just doesn’t sit right in 2025.

I also completely forgot Jason Alexander was in the movie—until I remembered his character’s tail. It’s wild how that escaped my memory. Once you see that tail wag, it’ll haunt your dreams. LOL.

I’ll probably never watch Shallow Hal again, but it was a notable part of early 2000s pop culture. It also helped propel Jack Black into greater fame, which he’s continued to enjoy to this day.