Film
COMEDY
SHALLOW HAL
(12) 113 mins 0..
Shallow Hal is the latest comedy from low-brow, gross-out specialists Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who made Dumb And Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. lf you’ve seen the trailer, you could be forgiven for thinking that the film is little more than a two-hour compendium of fat people jokes but, surprisingly, Shallow Hal turns out to be, at heart, a very sweet film (with lots of fat people jokes).
Jack Black (so good in High Fidelity) takes his first starring role as Hal, an immensely shallow man who only ever dates beautiful women, thanks to following the deathbed advice of his dying father’s morphine-addled last words (‘Hot young tail; that’s what it’s all about.’) and promising never to fall in love.
But all that changes when Hal gets trapped in a lift with self-help guru Tony Robbins, who hypnotises him into being able to see a person’s ‘inner beauty’. Shortly afterwards, Hal meets and falls in love with Rosemary, a sweet-natured nurse who just happens to be immensely obese
Tl l'Rlll ER TRAINING DAY (18) 120 mins 00.
Den/el ‘rVashington has silent a career playing dignified heroes iC/‘y Freedom. iVla/r:o/m X. The Hurricane, but here he casts off his noble martyr persona '.'./ith a riveting portrayal of a psychopathic and riit'nlessi‘, amoral LAPD narcotics officer. Alon/o Harris. This had lieutenant has an idealistic rookie partner. Jake Hoyt 'Ethan llax'xke . '.'.rho has just 24 hours to persuade his much decorated veteran colleague that he too has the net: :ESESEil‘, courage and
street-savvy to work undercover.
‘You have to (lecide if you're a sneep or a ‘.-.roif_ if you want to go to the grave or if you ‘.'."Etltt to go hoiiief Alon/o warns Jake. who becomes increasineg perturbed by his mentor's unortl'iodox methods of dispensing Justice:
(think Jerry Springer fat). Thus, Hal sees Rosemary as, well, Gwyneth Paltrow — who plays the part - whereas everyone else sees Rosemary as Gwyneth in an enormous latex suit (though naturally, the audience also sees her as non-latex Gwyneth for the majority of the slim star’s screen- time).
Unfortunately, though sweet, this is a one-joke movie and the fat people jokes wear thin pretty fast (so thin, in fact, that some of the jokes from the trailer don’t even make it into the finished
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JUST VISITING
(PG) 88 mins 00
phoney search iii/arrants gain access to properties. money and drugs are commandeererl from suspects by Alon/o
and his cohorts and the cold-blooded murder of a big—time dealer i’Scott Glenni is all in a day's cover—up. lt 'i‘ade Etf‘ nter'iatc
Director AntOine Fugua (The Replacement Kl/ltfl'fir and screenwriter David Ayer. serve up a gritty. l‘austian character-study. Although Jake may be appalled by the array Alonzo uses the ends to justify the means. he's still desperate not to Jeopardise his own l)l'()tl‘()tl()l“ prospects. ‘-.' Comparisons to Apocalypse NOW aren't entirely far-fetched: it's another ‘/|\/l(l Journey into the heart of darkness. only here the killing-fields are to he found in the inner city ghettos of urban black America. Propelled n, Wasliington‘s swaggering. charismatic [)(;l'l()rll‘£tll(;(;. Training Day cri rises towards distinction. only to be let down by a disastrous final reel. which lurches into preposterous action inoVie sl'io‘.'/do\.'/ns and shoot outs. i"l'oii‘. Dawson»
I General release from Hi I l er).
A vivid journey into the heart of darkness
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Surprisingly sweet one-joke movie
film). But it’s well-played, with both Paltrow and Black on winning form and, importantly, given its central message, the film doesn’t cop out at the end. There’s also great support from Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld), who plays Hal’s womanising best friend Mauricio and nabs all the best lines: ‘You had me at “Get lost.”’
What Shallow Hal lacks in belly laughs, it makes up for in heart. Surprisingly charming.
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lllltll l H2 DE-TOX (18) 92 mins 0
Not so much a de-tox as the hair of the dog that hit you earlier. After his Wife is slaughtered by a serial killer ‘.‘/ltl) a penchant for hanging his Victims. Sly Stallone's (:Op los 2s tne plot. hits the bottle and is committed to the remote. snow-bound rehab unit run by gri/xled ex-cop Kris Kristofferson and babe shrink Poi“,- Walker. As if group therapy ‘sritn a hunch of fellow cop alcoholics wasn't bad enough. Sly's fellow inmates soon start dying in mysterious circumstaiices. suggesting that one of their number is not who they claim to be.
Will make you hit the bottle
\x‘ttith a blizzard raging outside. this promising set-up has the potential for claustrophobic suspense and escalating paranoia. Sadly. Scottish filmmaker .Ji'i‘ Gillespie's direction is as ham fasted here as it was on the recidiVist slasher pic / Know l'l/llat You Did Last Summer. Scenes of §3l(2l\'(‘:'llllg Violence and gruesome aftermath are lingered over wrth dubious relish, but the effect is numbing rather than shocking. The cardboard characters are distinguished from one another only by the most superficial ticks. the tone is flat. the action dull, and the finale both predictable and laughable. About as much fun as being the only social drinker at an AA meeting. iNigel Floyd)
I (ienera/ release from /r'/ ll'el).