Reexamining Shallow Hal

I remember the response to my MySpace review of Shallow Hal made me feel badly for liking it.

Jack Black plays Hal. He’s a fairly successful guy, but his major drawback is that he rates the worth of women solely by their physical appearance. But we like him because he’s not a complete cretin.  He finds himself stuck in the elevator with real life motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, and he tells his life to him. Robbins offers to plant a hypnotic suggestion in Hal’s mind that would cause him to see only the inner beauty of the women he encounters. I couldn’t help but be annoyed when Mr. Robbins put his hand over Hal’s head and roared, “Devils! Come out!’ I note the silliness of actual demons being afraid of Robbins simply because he raised his voice. But I digress. Hal leaves the elevator. He meets and entertains a slew of women while his friend, Mauricio looks on in gaping astonishment. Jason Alexander hilariously plays Mauricio, wearing a Velcro toupee and spouting the best lines in the whole movie. In one scene, Mauricio frantically tracks down Robbins to get him to reverse Hal’s “brainwash”, describing to him the ugly women he’s meeting.

“Who says they’re ugly?” Robbins asks.

“Bausch & Lomb.” Mauricio retorts.

Hal meets Rosemary, a super obese sweetheart played by the beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow (who wore a fat suit for some scenes). Hal can only see the absolute beauty of her soul which is the spitting image of Paltrow. I still love this movie. Because we’ve all been fat and ugly in our lives and we’re all caught up in this maniacal pitch of what is lawfully beautiful. In one scene, a friend of Hal dates a nurse named Tanya who works in the same ward as Rosemary. To everyone else, she appears as this physically gorgeous woman. But in Hal’s sight, her inner self appears as decrepit and repulsive-looking. Nan Martin who played the unattractive Tanya passed away in 2010. I couldn’t help but wonder. How did the producers present this part to her?

“So Ms. Martin, basically the part we’d like for you to play is an extremely ugly version of Tanya…”

Brooke Burns as Katrina (Inner Beauty)

Actress Nan Martin
as Tanya

There’s a cruelty about this, but if the heart motivation was ever right I can recognize the courage in it too. It’s one of the artistic aspects that I admire. All of the pretty actresses had their unattractive counterparts and they probably had to watch each other’s mannerisms. That must’ve been uncomfortable and a potentially great way for them to bond. Brooke Burns is notable for playing pretty Katrina and then putting on a prosthetic nose and teeth for her scenes as unattractive Katrina. 

Brooke Burns as Katrina
wearing prosthetics

But her performance as Katrina overall is consistently delivered with a trembling, insecure laugh and nervous tics. I think she deserved recognition for not playing up Katrina as a joke, but as a sweet, but damaged human being. It’s her portrayal that makes it hard to resist feeling a protective love for the character-- you can’t help but feel a little bad for laughing. Well, I do anyway. It’s that sort of deeply human expression that I recognize in these characters and potentially, I think the actors did too. That’s one reason why Shallow Hal should be acknowledged. Ultimately these characters just want to be loved and they want to have purpose. They've been trained to feel worthless because they laugh a little strangely or gawk embarrassingly. We can laugh with them, but I don’t see them as a mistake. God knew what He was doing. Anything less is cruelty. I had severe cystic acne growing up. While it has cleared up tremendously, as an adult I still have minor breakouts. It’s one of those hard things I have to live with and a thing that some people have a hard time getting past.

"(Save me) from what?!"

"From what? From a pack of stampeding buffalo! That's from what!"

So maybe my friends back in MySpace land didn’t understand how I could rave for this movie. It's likely the Farrelly Brothers did create the human aspect of this movie as a way to make the fat jokes more palatable. Years ago, that genuinely bothered me. I needed to know if they really cared. People are cynical for a reason. If Beyonce never met Jay-Z would she date a lowly average-looking songwriter, even if he was secure and had a heart of gold? I think a lot of men secretly hope so. As for me, I think anything is possible with God when it comes to love. I also think that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. I know there are men who genuinely are attracted to overweight women. But after Hal is brought back to his original state of mind by Mauricio, Hal leaves Rosemary alone in the restaurant and starts to avoid seeing her as she truly looks. Later, Rosemary is seated by the phone in the hospital with her back to us. She hangs up the phone and bows her head to cry after Hal brushes her off again. That’s a real moment. I mean it’s excruciating. Anyone whose ever been dumped or who decided to end a relationship knows it. So Rosemary is not just a “punch line” in the movie, even if the Farrelly Brothers always intended it. The only reason to dismiss this movie is for the disbelief that the Farrelly Brothers are sentimental. Or it’s just easier to be in the nook of our seasoned cynicism.

Even if it doesn’t mean to, does Shallow Hal truly show us that love can transcend physical appearance? I’ll wrap it up this way…

There’s a Vietnam vet named Dave Roever who I heard speak at my former church. He’s a funny, inspirational guy. He went to war because of his conscience, but he intended to come back home in one piece to be a minister. His life changed when he picked up a white phosphorous hand grenade that exploded in his hand, and tore through his face, chest, arms and fingers. He dove into the water to put out the flames that engulfed his body. In the infirmary, he tried to kill himself but it didn’t take. He didn’t think that his beautiful teenage wife would want him. But he recounted to us how his wife came to see him, leaned down and kissed him, saying, “Welcome home, Davey.” They’re still together today. I’m not going to pretend that I would know what to do if my girlfriend or wife was disfigured. But I do believe that love goes beyond a beautiful body and prestige. It’s a very right enablement given by God. 

Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow bump into each other
at an art show a few days ago

A writerly observation about Avengers: Age of Ultron (and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel's Daredevil and Agent Carter)

Major Spoilers Ahead

I thought it was good, but I wasn’t blown away. It’s not terrible. It’s a fun, exciting movie. I really liked the foreshadowing for the fallout to come, the introduction of Vision and the presence of Baron Von Strucker. I have a lot of little complaints, but more worthwhile is an observation which I want to point out about Marvel Studios media.

Thomas Kretschmann as Strucker
Avengers: Age of Ultron

Baron Von Strucker is a Hydra leader whose secret base is attacked by the Avengers. Later, he’s murdered by Ultron in his jail cell. Thomas Kretschmann appeared briefly as Strucker in Captain America: Winter Solder.  I wished we might’ve seen him stay in the role a little longer because I can only imagine how exciting his work might’ve proven. The company benefits when it gives its actors ample opportunity to grow in a role—Marvel Studios has become like an unofficial repertory company of actors. The audience benefits because we don’t get a one-shot baddie who cackles and shakes his fist only to get blown up. I don’t need a tear jerker on how the villain became, but Kretschmann was striking to me as Strucker and he got offed too soon. The same thing happened in the recent season two finale of the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. where a whole crop of exciting-and-ready-to-bloom characters were wiped off the board in one fell swoop. What? Why?

Ruth Negga as Raina
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

What Marvel Studios has been doing since 2008 is a radical form of entertainment. These guys are underdogs who tipped over the haterade. I’ve been a staunch supporter of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. since the first season. I loved Agent Carter and Daredevil. Like any company or group that blazes a new trail, there’s always going to be those areas that lack.

B.J. Britt as Agent Antoine Triplet
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The work done by actors to develop these characters cannot be taken for granted because they make the story and cast better. This is especially true for the villains. The second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saw this crowd of new characters who never got a chance to come to some fruition. Three examples of thrilling and engaging talent who gave their characters great life were B.J. Britt (Agent Triplett), Ruth Negga (Raina), and of course, the great Edward James Olmos (Robert Gonzalez). Most disappointing of all is the exit of Olmos -- who may be the only positive and talented Latino male actor to ever appear on this show. I was excited to see Olmos involved in Captain America: Civil War next year when it crosses over with … S.H.I.E.L.D. The gravitas of Olmos is universally noted. Why are the most compelling characters on … S.H.I.E.L.D. being killed off? The killings are premature and fatigued… like Age of Ultron.

I read a Forbes review about Age of Ultron that described the movie as “…played like an obligation…” like a checklist to get over with before getting to the really great part. I’m aware that Joss Whedon confessed in interviews he was exhausted from making it.

I think with time and season, killing off characters does work. 

Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich
Marvel's Daredevil

In Marvel’s Daredevil, investigative reporter Ben Urich is murdered before he can expose Wilson Fisk as a crook. In the comics, Urich is Caucasian so I was particularly excited that Marvel cast Vondie Curtis-Hall. He just deserved that role! I was shocked when his character is murdered, but it wasn’t premature. I was hoping to see Curtis-Hall as Urich interact with Spider-Man in the second season of Daredevil. But Curtis-Hall had duration of time to give an appreciated, noted performance. Same thing in Agent Carter, for the tense office scene where S.S.R. chief Roger Dooley is unable to take off a vest put on him by the villain. The vest is rigged to blow and there is no way of getting it off. Shea Whigham portrays Dooley like he was born and raised from mean streets; tough-as-nails and hard working. The accent sounds like a guy from the suburbs who’d put a bat to your head if you threatened his family. He’s the type that wants answers short and quick, little-to-no empathy, but later we see softer moments appropriately woven. Nothing awkward and forced which was masterful, as he expresses love for his estranged wife and how deep down he worries about his agents. Whigham is so cool; he doesn’t play Dooley as a bland cop suit. It’s awesome! So when Dooley jumps out of the window to save his team, it feels earned in a sense. It sucks, yes, because we love the character. It’s not gratuitous.  

Vincent D'Onofrio as
Wilson Fisk
Marvel's Daredevil

The main cast of Agent Carter
Shea Whigham as Roger Dooley is seated second from left.

Consider the decision to allow Vincent D’Onofrio to play Wilson Fisk in a way that I don’t think the comics have shown. Fisk is a complete stoic, except in moments of rage. D’Onofrio made him genuinely scary by portraying him as a man so repressed in his boyhood anguish and is awkward as a result of it. When he would lose it, you cringed. I think Baron Von Strucker given some time could give us “a little color.” The character of Raina deserved more time in her clairvoyance and to potentially appear in the movie, Inhumans.  A lot of exciting characters and interactions on ...S.H.I.E.L.D. were wiped out.

Raina transformed into an Inhuman
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I actually sucked my teeth at Tony Stark when he tried to convince a stunned Bruce Banner into activating the Vision. Robert Gonzalez played by Olmos gives a succinct and satisfying assessment of Tony Stark on the second-to-last episode of …S.H.I.E.L.D.: 

"Want to talk facts? Ultron was created because people were too close to Tony Stark. They were blinded by his charm. They trusted him. Never even thought to look at what he was working on. And the Avengers- they let one man do whatever he wanted and the world was almost destroyed for it. We’re S.H.I.E.L.D. We’re better than that.”

Edward James Olmos as Robert Gonzalez
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Come on! That monologue commands a hush. It's reason enough for me to believe that the death of Gonzalez is premature on the show. 

I tend to notice these trends of fatigue. I’m not always right, but you can usually tell from the trailer. I felt it when they advertised The Dark Knight Rises to death. It felt like a lack of confidence then. I think Christopher Nolan is great and I liked …Rises. But it’s the lesser of his trilogy.

Or maybe Avengers: Age of Ultron is like one of those movements in symphonic music from the great classical composers centuries ago, where you had one really bad or dissonant section, which made way for that beautiful and intoxicating allegro and sonata that was to come. Maybe that’s Marvel’s plan. I forget the name of the composer who I learned was said to have done this. It’s been many, many years since I sat in music history class.