The Full Monty (1997)

Directed by: Peter Cattaneo | 91 minutes | comedy | Actors: Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, Hugo Speer, Lesley Sharp, Emily Woof, Deirdre Costello, Paul Butterworth, Dave Hill, Bruce Jones, Andrew Livingstone, Vinny Dhillon, Kate Layden, Joanna Swain, Diane Lane

Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and Dave (Mark Addy), like many other Sheffield residents, are suffering from the collapse of the steel industry. They have no work and the work they can do does not meet their aspirations. However, Gaz desperately needs money to pay child support for his son Nathan (William Snape), and Dave is frustrated because his wife Jean (Lesley Sharp) is now bringing in the money. Gaz thinks they should start a strip act just like the Chippendales in order to raise a lot of money in one fell swoop.

They meet Lomper (Steve Huison) who they save from a suicide attempt. He joins them and brings in a rehearsal room and music. After much wrangling, they persuade their former foreman Gerald (Tom Wilkinson) to give them dance lessons. They then hold auditions and are introduced to ‘Horse’ (Paul Barber), who as a fifty-year-old can still do just fine as a soul dancer, and to Guy (Hugo Speer) who has no talent at all, but with the size of his gender every reservation. against his input. But then those clothes still have to be taken off in the most attractive way possible.

There is no shortage of hilarious and moving moments. When Gerald, after hiding his unemployment from his wife for six months, finally has another job interview, Gaz and Dave stage a play with some of his garden gnomes to harass him that leaves him completely freaked out in front of the hiring committee. Gerald is furious, but above all desperate. His wife will now notice that he does not go to work every day and that that ski holiday will certainly not come of it. Even though he’s not their favorite, Gaz and Dave feel sorry for Gerald because they know better than anyone how desperate a human can get. That mix of exuberant humour, wantonness and moving seriousness runs through the entire film and a smile and a tear are rarely so beautifully fused together.

One of the funniest scenes is when they’re standing in line at the job center and music is playing from the radio. They have meanwhile been so trained that they involuntarily take steps with the accompanying suggestive hip movements amidst the despondently waiting men in this very depressing environment. A very comical contrast. But also the test run for a bunch of female relatives of Horse is hilarious where even his elderly mother can’t contain her laughter as they are engulfed by the hot looks of the intrepid comic book heroes.

Saying how hilarious ‘The Full Monty’ is doesn’t do the movie justice. You have to see him for yourself. Laughter guaranteed.