Film
Jack Black, in my opinion, is one of the funniest actors in Hollywood today. Black, along with Gwyneth Paltrow, stars in Shallow Hal… the latest in the line of crude Farrelly Brother’s comedies. This film fell short of its potential, but was still mildly amusing.
“Jack Black is Shallow Hal, a superficial skirt chaser who, after a mind-altering experience with a self-help guru, doesn’t realize that his gorgeous girlfriend (Gwyneth Paltrow) is actually a 300-pound not-do-hottie. Meanw…ile, Hal’s playboy pal Mauricio (Jason Alexander) is determined to break the spell before someone gets… squashed! Packed with loads of laughs and non stop fun, it’s the biggest love story ever told.” – Fox
Audio
The audio on this disc is quite good for a comedy. The score is strong and surrounding, and the vocals are clear. The soundstage was surprisingly full… and the surround speakers were used occasionally, but effectively. The 5.1 Dolby Digital audio will not blow you away, but it sounds better then most comedies on DVD.
Video
The 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen transfer is quite nice. The transfer is clean of most debris, and free of granulation and edge enhancements. The colors are natural and not overpowering… all-in-all, this disc looks good.
Special Features
This disc has lots of good special features. Not only does this DVD have a very good (and very funny) audio commentary by the Farrelly Brothers, but also two very good (yet redundant) making of featurettes. There is also a good featurette called “Seeing Through the Layers”, which outlines transformation of the girls in the film. Next up are a medley of 11 deleted scenes, all of which are very funny… if you enjoy Jack Black and Farrelly Brothers comedy, you will really want to watch these. Lastly, there are some DVD regulars in trailers, a music video, and production notes. The menus on Shallow Hal are animated and scored… and are fun to navigate through.
Final Thoughts
If you like Jack Black and/or the Farrelly Brothers, you really should own this DVD. The film is just adequate, but the overall quality of the disc is good. The features are very complete, and the video and audio are solid. Nice job Fox!
Special Features List
- Commentary by Farrelly brothers
- 11 deleted scenes
- Four Featurettes
- Music video
- Trailers
