[Screen It]

 

"THE FULL MONTY"
(1997) (Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Mild None Moderate None None
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Moderate None None Minor Extreme
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate Extreme Moderate Minor Minor


QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: Several unemployed men, desperate for cash, become male strippers.
PLOT:
In the South Yorkshire town of Sheffield, the once productive steel mills have been closed for six months. Their many workers, including divorcee Gaz (ROBERT CARLYLE), his overweight friend Dave (MARK ADDY), and their snobbish ex-foreman Gerald (TOM WILKINSON), haven't been able to find a job since. They also have other problems, with Gaz struggling with his ex-wife Many (EMILY WOOF) to maintain visitation rights with his son Nate (WILLIAM SNAPE). Dave and his wife Jean (LESLEY SHARP) are having problems in bed, and Gerald still hasn't told his wife Linda (DEIRDEE COSTELLO) that he was laid off from work. After seeing the public response to a recent visit from the renowned Chippendale dancers, the men decide they can do the same, even considering their humble looks and less than perfect bodies. With amateur dancer Gerald as their instructor, the men begin to choreograph their number and audition other participants including Guy (HUGO SPEER), a well-endowed man, Lomper (STEVE HUISON) who's suicidal, and Horse (Paul Barber), an older man with a few good dance steps left in him. As the men practice for their big night, their families can't believe what they're doing, and the townspeople wait in high anticipation for a showing of full male nudity, a.k.a., "the full monty."
WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Probably not, although some older teens might if they've heard about the film.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For language and some nudity.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • ROBERT CARLYLE plays a divorcee who doesn't know his son that well, but will do nearly anything, including stripping, to be able to pay his ex-wife the child-support needed to see him. He also smokes quite a bit and is involved in some shoplifting.
  • MARK ADDY plays a man who has problems in bed with his wife, has low self-esteem, and is also involved in shoplifting.
  • TOM WILKINSON plays a former steel mill manager who hasn't got up the nerve to tell his wife that he was laid off, even six months later, and like the other men, becomes a stripper.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    OUR TAKE: 7 out of 10
    Much like the strip act that it features, "The Full Monty" never goes so far as to show everything, but it's the tease that's often more enjoyable than the real thing. That's the case here, where the fun isn't seeing the men actually perform their "number," but in their awkward and often very funny practice sessions leading up to it. Topping it off is the fact that these men are about the farthest from the Chippendale dancers that you could get. They're either overweight, skinny or are too old to be doing this sort of thing, and that only adds to their uncomfortable, but often hilarious participation. In fact, that's what makes the film so enjoyable. These are just average "Joe's" and the fact that they aren't famous or handsome, and have many flaws, allows the audience to identify with them and thus feel compassion for their dilemma. One of the funniest moments in the movie is after the men have temporarily abandoned their strip plans. Standing in line at the unemployment office, they hear the strains of "Hot Stuff" (the 1970's Donna Summer disco hit). As the infectious beat slowly invades their bodies, they can't help but start moving, one body part at a time, until they're doing their dance steps. It's quite funny, as are the many other practice and audition sessions. Another scene has the men practicing for the first time in front of one of the men's relatives, including a grandmother who knits during the number and must keep herself from laughing out loud with the other family members and with the audience. The acting performances, like the movie, are quite good with Carlyle and Wilkinson standing out in their roles. While some might think that the idea is too scandalous, or may watch because they think they're going to see "the full monty," they'll be surprised that the film is more of a tease than actual explicit exploitation. With the right mix of humor and enough dramatic elements to keep the plot humanized and always moving forward, this movie is an enjoyable diversion from the standard Hollywood fare we're usually subjected to. We give "The Full Monty" a 7 out of 10.
    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    While the subject matter makes the film sound far worse than it really is pertaining to nudity, it still contains several scenes where we see bare buttocks (male and female) as well as men in small G-strings. 30 "f' words top off the worst of the profanity, there's one non-graphic suicide attempt (via car exhaust) that's played for laughs, and there are several instances of shoplifting. Although it's doubtful many children will want to see this film, you should look through the content just in case they, or you, do want to see it.

    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Women drink in a bar while watching the Chippendale dancers perform and Nate (who's snuck in) drinks leftover beer from several glasses.
  • People drink at a bar waiting to see the men do their act.
  • Gaz takes several swigs of alcohol before going on stage to perform.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • None.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Some viewers may look at the men's actions (stripping) as having some of both.
  • Gaz and Dave try to steal a steel girder from their old plant. When Nate asks about stealing, Gaz tells him that he won't get a criminal record until he's sixteen and not to tell his mother about what they're doing.
  • Gaz and Dave admire a woman who walks by and then rate her attractiveness, but one of them then says that it's hard to tell "without seeing her t*ts."
  • Gaz and Nate crawl in through a bathroom window of a bar.
  • Although he was laid off six months ago, Gerald doesn't tell his wife, Linda, and acts like he's still going to work every morning.
  • Gaz and Dave ruin Gerald's job interview by distracting him at the window and he doesn't get the job (later they do apologize).
  • With neither men having enough money, Gaz makes Dave shoplift a videotape (of "Flashdance") from a store. Later, Gaz runs out of the same store with a coat to make Dave chase after him, and even later the two run out of the store wearing shoplifted coats as the alarm sounds.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • None.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • None.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Pissing," "Piss off," "Bastard," "Shut up," "Bloody," "Buggar," and "Hard on" (sexual).
  • The men practice for and finally do strip, and some kids may get the idea to do the same.
  • Gaz and Nate crawl in through a bathroom window of a bar.
  • Despondent over not having a job, Lomper tries to commit suicide by sitting in a car that's filled with exhaust fumes (played for laughs). After Lomper calls Dave a bastard for saving his life, Dave throws him back into the smokey car (again played for laughs and Lomper isn't hurt). Dave and Gaz then tell Lomper ways he could kill himself (drowning, jumping from a bridge, etc...).
  • A man tries several times to run up a wall (as he'd seen in a dance movie), but instead crashes to the floor.
  • With neither men having enough money, Gaz makes Dave shoplift a videotape (of "Flashdance") from a store. Later, Gaz runs out of the same store with a coat to make Dave chase after him, and even later the two run out of the store wearing shoplifted coats as the alarm sounds.
  • Nate cashes in his savings account to help his dad with needed money.
  • Dave wraps cling wrap around his fat belly in hopes that it will make him lose weight.
  • Two of the nearly nude dancers run through a neighborhood and then grab clothes from a clothesline to wear.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • None.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • A song contains the lyrics "Where are you from, you sexy thing?" and another has the lines "Gonna have some hot love baby this evening."
  • PROFANITY
  • Due to the occasionally hard to understand strong accents, there may be more profanity than listed below.
  • At least 30 "f" words, 4 "s" words, 3 slang terms for male genitals (the "d" word and "willy" and "widge"), 4 slang terms for breasts (the "t" word), 4 hells, 3 asses, 1 crap, and 2 uses each of "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ," and 1 use each of "Christ Almighty," "Oh my God," and "For Christ's sakes" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • A woman pulls down her pants and urinates standing up against a wall in the men's bathroom (we only see her bare butt and a urine stream between her legs).
  • Gaz and Dave ask a man, "You don't sing. You don't dance. What do you do?" The man then pulls down his pants (we see his bare buttocks) and the others' reactions indicate that the man is well endowed.
  • Horse holds what appears to be a penis enlarger kit as he complains on the phone that this apparatus doesn't appear to be working right because "it's not getting any larger."
  • Dave and Jean kiss in bed and he moves on top of her (no nudity or movement), but then gets off and she asks him what's wrong (he's impotent).
  • Gerald worries about what might happen while he's stripping. He then tells Dave a story about getting a "stiffy" (erection) when he was a boy at a coed swim party and he worries that will happen again.
  • The dancers' bare buttocks are occasionally seen while wearing their thong underwear, and also at the very end of the movie.
  • Two of the male dancers, wearing just thong underwear, climb through a window while running from the police. Once inside, they giggle and laugh and then fondly look at each other, but nothing ever comes of this.
  • The performance finally arrives and the men strip off their pants and then their underwear but cover their privates with their hats and all we see are their bare buttocks.
  • SMOKING
  • Gaz and Dave smoke quite a bit throughout the film.
  • Others smoke here and there in the film.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Gaz doesn't know Nate that well, but wants to find a job so that he can pay child support to Mandy, his ex-wife, so that he continue to see his son. Later, after the guys have been arrested for indecent exposure, Mandy comes and takes Nate away. Even later, Nate asks Gaz to come swimming with them, but then realizes that his dad can't.
  • Dave can't sexually perform for Jean and this puts a strain on their marriage. Additionally, he thinks she's interested in other men, and once she finds his strip outfit, she accuses him of seeing someone else.
  • Gerald's wife is understandably upset after she learns that he lied to her about his job and after all of their belongings are repossessed.
  • Lomper's mother dies and we see him playing the bugle at her funeral.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Strippers and why these people do this (for money or because they're exhibitionists).
  • VIOLENCE
  • Gaz and Gerald get into a minor shoving match at a job center.
  • Gerald pushes Dave aside and grabs Gaz after the two have ruined Gaz's interview.
  • Gerald's wife throws a lawn ornament to the ground, shattering it.
  • Jean slaps Dave and hits him several times when she thinks he's having an affair.



  • Reviewed August 14, 1997

    Other new and recent reviews include:

    [Around the World in 80 Days] [Family Camp] [Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness]

    Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
    By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

    All Rights Reserved,
    ©1996-2022 Screen It, Inc.