Director(s): Peter Farrelly, Robert Farrelly

Starring: Jack Black, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jason Alexander, Joe Viterelli, Tony Robbins,

Love is in the eye of the beholder. That’s the essence for this movie, and let me say, it was right up my street. Jack Black played his role of Hal beautifully, adding humour and sensitivity to a film that could easily have become a joke. This, combined with clever camera angles and witty dialogue left the film easy to follow yet interesting at the same time, by using the time-old trick of making two characters think they are conversing about the same thing, but in reality they are talking about opposite topics.

When Hal (Jack Black) gets hypnotised by Tony Robbins to see people’s inner beauty, it opens his eyes to a world where everyone is beautiful and where he can see the beauty within, rather than the superficial beauty that people possess. A beautiful message to send out not only to women, but to men as well; indicating that the right person will see all the good things about you, rather than the flaws we all see in ourselves. I found myself empathising with Gwyneth Paltrow’s character who wouldn’t accept the compliments she is given by Hal, believing that she was ugly. This was not the case for Hal who, thanks to the hypnosis, saw Paltrow’s character as an interesting, funny and charming person.

This film not only opened my eyes to the wonderful acting talents of Jack Black, but it also sent a beautiful message to the viewer (and I do love a movie that sends a message, it makes the whole film-watching process so much better if you walk away from the film with a changed perception of society or topic) I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, so I would like to thank my friend, Emma for recommending it to me… :)

I’m going to score this film 9/10 for the message, brilliant acting and witty humour.