自从1994年拍摄的Dumb & Dumber获得成功以来，Bobby Farrelly与Peter Farrelly兄弟一直坚持自编、自导、自己监制的独立创作路子，先后摄制了Kingpin(1996)，There's Something About Mary (1998),以及Me, Myself & Irene (2000)。尽管法拉利兄弟的作品被一些影评家认为是俗不可耐，但在观众中却颇有人缘。《我为玛丽狂》仅在美国国内就获得了1亿7千3百万美元的票房收入。应该说，法拉利兄弟俗中见雅的电影风格是其成功的一个重要原因，即让观众在大笑的同时体味到生活的真谛。

　　2001年，法拉利兄弟又推出了《庸人哈尔》(又名《情人眼里出西施》)。这部喜剧秉承了他们一贯的风格。影片对年轻人谈恋爱交朋友时只注重长相的做法进行了善意的讽刺，也批评了传媒在人们判断生活中的美与丑时所产生的负面影响。在当今这个大家竞相赶时髦、过于注重外表的时代，我们确实应当更加强调实实在在的内在美，更加强调个性化与独立思考精神。

　　Hal Larson is an average boy in both appearance and intelligence. He gets a few pieces of advice from his father before he kicks the bucket<注1>. The old man regrets that he married Hal's mother who was a "nightmare". He tells Hal that he should never settle for<注2> average in his career and that he should look for a classic beauty to marry. Since then Hal has been fooling around with<注3> all kinds of girls pursuing his ideal partner. Right now he is courting Jill, a pretty girl living next door, but is turned down<注4> for his shallowness.

　　Dumped<注5> by Jill, Hal is very unhappy. In the elevator to his office, he meets a famous guru<注6> named Tony Robbins who often appears on TV programs giving advice to celebrities<注7> on how to live a happy and rich life. Hal consults him on how to win the heart of the beauties. The man tells him that inner beauty is far more important than appearance. He also hypnotizes<注8> Halsintosa spell<注9> under which Hal can see the inner merits of a girl and even desire the undesirable.

　　In the discotheque<注10>, Hal is dancing madly with a few girls, which shocks his friend Mauricio who sees a bunch of plain-looking and overweighted ladies around Hal. But in Hal's eye, they are pretty and fit. Jill is also surprised to see the change in Hal who is now polite and respectful to all the girls around him. The next day, Hal spots on a beautiful girl entering a shop. He follows hersintosthe store and finds her choosing some extra large underwear. Hal jokes with her and she is amused. He invites the girl, whose name is Rosemary, to a fast-food restaurantswheresto Hal's surprise she orders a lot of food. Just as they are about to eat, the steel-framed<注11> chair Rosemary sits on suddenly collapses, which embarrasses her. In fact, Rosemary is a plain-looking girl weighing over 200 pounds and such accidents often happen when she eats out. However hypnotized Hal is still attracted to her, as in his eye, Rosemary is a fit and beautiful girl.

　　Hal is even more surprised when he learns that Rosemary's father is his boss who owns the company and that Rosemary works for a children's hospital. One day, Rosemary invites Hal to visit the hospitalswheresshe works. Hal is very pleased to know that Rosemary is quite popular among the children here. He also gives a kind hug to a pretty little girl who is seriously burnt and deformed<注12>. Rosemary is drawn to<注13> Hal for his kindness and humor. Approaching Hal's home, they meet Jill who is astonished at the fatness of Rosemary and runs away with an excuse. Rosemary is hurt and begins to doubt Hal's compliment<注14> about her fitness and beauty despite his explanation.

　　The next day, Rosemary comes to apologize to Hal and then invites him to her home to meet her parents. At the dinner, Rosemary encourages Hal to present his ideas about how to expand business of her father's company. The old man is happy to hear these plans and asks Hal to do a presentation at tomorrow's board meeting<注15>. But when the old man indicates that Rosemary has difficulty in finding a date<注16>, Hal is puzzled that how can such a super- model-like girl fail to get a boyfriend. He criticizes the old man for his overpicky<注17> standard for everything. The old man just takes Hal's dating Rosemary as mere compliment and a way to climb up in career.

　　Hal's presentation at the meeting of the board of directors proves a success. The old man summons Hal to his office and promotes him right away. Now he is working for the old man directly. The old man also tells him that he is very pleased that his daughter has such a smart and nice boyfriend. But Mauricio thinks differently. He alerts<注18> Hal to begin hunting for the real beauty aftershavingsfun with a few fatties, which agitates Hal.

　　Hal and Rosemary set out for a holiday trip with Hal's friends. They have a good time. At a bar they happen to meet a handsome guy Ralph who is surprised to see happy Rosemary, who used to be depressed for quite a long time. Rosemary tells Hal that Ralph worked with her abroad in the Peace Corps<注19> and was her only boyfriend before she meets Hal.

　　Meanwhile, Mauricio is desperately looking for Tony Robbins. When he finally finds him, Mauricio accuses him ofshavingshypnotized Hal and asks for the words or phrases to get him back to the "normal state". Despite that Mr. Robbins argues that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and that de-hypnotizing Hal might actually hurt him, Mauricio still insists getting the key to dehypnotizing Hal. When Hal isshavingsdinner with Rosemary at a restaurant, it happens again that Rosemary crushes the chair and falls flat on the ground. Complaining to the pretty receptionist at the restaurant, Hal gets a phone call from Mauricio who sings "Shallow Hal gets the gal<注20>" twice. Turning around, Hal sees the back of an extremely fat woman swallowing food on Rosemary's seat.

　　Hal cannot believe his eye and is about to approach the woman when Mauricio rushessintosthe room and takes him to the outside. When Mauricio tells Hal the truth about the hypnosis, Hal is stunned and cannot accept the fact. He blames Mauricio for waking him up from the wonderful dream. Insgroupsto get Hal back to the trance<注21>, Mauricio tries to locate the whereabouts<注22> of Tony Robbins while Hal has to keep away from Rosemary. No matter how hard Rosemary tries to see Hal, he always finds an excuse to avoid her.

　　Observing Hal's change, Jill has made up her mind to go back to him and she persuades Hal to go to dinner with her. At the dinner table, Jill urges Hal to choose her as his girlfriend with her hands touching Hal's. But Hal only has Rosemary in his mind and rejects Jill's request. Unfortunately, this seemingly "romantic" scene is spotted by Rosemary who happens to come with her parents for dinner in the same restaurant. She is heartbroken and walks away with tears in her eyes. She refuses to speak to Hal on the phone. The next morning, Rosemary's father summons Hal to his office and scolds him for dumping his daughter. Hal tries to explain the situation, but the old man would not listen to him. He tells Hal that Rosemary goes back to Ralph, her former boyfriend, and they are going to work abroad for the Peace Corps again.

　　Disappointed Hal and Mauricio go to see Ralph who is not handsome at all and who tells Hal that he is not even invited to Rosemary's farewell party. They rush to Rosemary's homeswheresHal tells Rosemary that she is the only woman he has ever loved and he has decided to go abroad with her. Hal and Rosemary are finally back together again. Failed to carry heavy Rosemary to his car, Hal has to be carried by Rosemary instead. In the blessings from Rosemary's parents and applause from everybody, Hal and Rosemary drive away to their future life.