The Full Monty
Sorry ladies, but you don't actually get to see the full monty in this movie. For anyone still not aware, "the full monty" is British vernacular for what we here in America call a man's family jewels. Beans and Franks. Nuts and Berries. Outdoor plumbing. You get the picture. In any case, there's nary a Johnson to be seen in this hilarious, surprisingly touching debut from director Peter Cattaneo. Not to worry, though; there's plenty of emotional nakedness and genuine laughs to make up for it.
Sheffield, a broken down, post-industrial steel mill town without a functional steel mill is a tough place to find a job for divorcee Gaz (Robert Carlyle, in an feeling, comic performance that greatly expands his range since his turn as the guttural homicidal boozer in Trainspotting); Gaz needs money fast if he wants to maintain visitation rights with his son. Noticing the throngs of women plunking down twenty quid to see the troupe of travelling male strippers passing through town, he decides this is an easy way to pick up cash. But how can he and his cohorts, all of dubious physical condition, compete with the chiseled bods of the Chippendales? What can they do that the Chippendales don't? Easy: show off the full monty.
Watching these unemployed hacks practice their dance moves in an abandoned mill to Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" is easily the funniest thing to hit the screen in months, but the real thrill is the human touch. Baring all raises sensitive issues of self image, particularly for the overweight Dave (Mark Addy) and the timid Lomper (Steve Huison). Horse (Paul Barber) who is not hung like one and the aging foreman-turned-choreographer Gerard (Tom Wilkinson) are hesitant at best, but the promise of easy money has them in tanning booths, donning red thongs and bopping to Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" in the unemployment line.
It's sweet, heartbreaking, and comical to watch these men's wives cheering them on as they confront their fears of public scrutiny, penis envy, unemployment and wounded pride; this is a decidedly British comedy in that it mirrors humor and pain with refreshing honesty. When the men finally strut onstage to Tom Jones' "You Can Leave Your Hat On", you'll be cheering as loudly as the estrogen-stoked crowd. I left the theatre grinning and humming "The Stripper", for God's sake. The Full Monty is a genuine, heartwarming movie and a guaranteed crowd pleaser. A complete, satisfying package - pun fully intended.
- Jared O'Connor
MOVIES
All Content © 1997, 1998, 1999 Jared O'Connor and Michael Baker