THE FULL MONTY (Fox Searchlight - 1997) Starring Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Lesley Sharp, Emily Woof, Steve Huison, Paul Barber, Hugo Speer Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy Produced by Uberto Pasolini Directed by Peter Cattaneo Running time: 91 minutes
*** (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: B
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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As the summer films begin to dwindle in numbers at theatres, it becomes increasingly clear that in 1997, only two films have been able to breach the gulf between specialty theatres and the mainstream to become indisputable crossover successes -- Victor Nunez's family drama ULEE'S GOLD and Peter Cattaneo's striptease comedy THE FULL MONTY, both of which in recent months improbably made appearances in weekend domestic Top 10 box office totals, typically dominated by mainstream fare. (One could also make a case for John Madden's historical drama MRS BROWN and Masayuki Suo's uplifting SHALL WE DANCE? as similar crossover successes; neither of them were able to crack weekend box office Top 10 listings, but they have both had long, relatively successful runs.)
As has been well publicized, the focus of THE FULL MONTY is a group of unemployed men who, inspired by the success of a visiting troupe of Chippendale dancers, form a striptease act in order to scrape up some money. The kicker is that our protagonists are not the hunky beefcakes which typify a lineup for the Chippendale dancers -- one is decidedly overweight, two are scrawny, and the only two which know how to perform anything resembling dance aren't exactly in the prime of their youth anymore. Uh oh.
The opening reels of THE FULL MONTY sets up the basic framework for the predicament our heroes face in order to arrive at their striptease solution. Set in Sheffield, proudly proclaimed in a sardonic 1970s promotion reel as a thriving, healthy "City On The Move", we cut forward in time -- indeed, this may be the first film I've seen where a title card reading "Twenty five years later" precedes any live-action footage -- to a city rife with unemployment, where the town's steel mills, its primary industry, have been shut down. Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and best friend Dave (Mark Addy) frequent the local unemployment centre, ostensibly to write employment inquiry letters, but spend most of their time instead playing cards. Even their priggish former steel mill foreman, Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), has been released, humiliatingly putting him on equal terms with his ex-employees. It's an all-too-familiar situation in the contemporary reality of working-class towns, where an aura of resigned hopelessness, broken dreams, and wounded pride permeates the environment.
However, THE FULL MONTY is such a determinedly cheerful film, full of levity and upbeat moments, that there's no real sense of despair or gloom in the characters' situation of unemployment; it's really a superficial depiction of their dilemma. Admittedly, given that the film is a comedy, it would probably be inappropriate for THE FULL MONTY to deeply delve into the characters' plights in a mournful and downcast fashion, but the film is so jovial and spirited in nature that the artifice of the construct of THE FULL MONTY is blindingly clear and mildly distracting -- everything is centered around and in service of the striptease storyline.
Simon Beaufoy's debut screenplay, save for the wickedly funny premise, is a rather bland one. THE FULL MONTY's protagonists are essentially a group of collected idiosyncratic individuals who make for unlikely pals, but the film gathers them together in a trite manner which fails to fully exploit its full comic potential, and the three principal characters are given would-be touching personal subplots which are too familiar in nature (Gaz is threatened with loss of shared custody for his obligatorily cute son due to his inability to afford child support; Dave's insecurity with his appearance results in a faltering relationship with his spouse; Gerald, too ashamed to tell his wife about his lack of employment, bravely continues a charade of heading off to work every morning) to be as affecting as aspired. THE FULL MONTY's characters are consequently likable, but lack real depth and aren't particularly compelling.
While THE FULL MONTY seems to explore aspects of social realism in a halfhearted manner, there is a detectable momentum built up towards the film's dance scenes, which are very funny indeed. The scenes where the uncoordinated men are being taught how to dance by Gerald -- himself intuitively not the most obvious instructor for a striptease endeavour, given that his dance repertoire seems to consist primarily of amateur ballroom dancing; hardly suitable credentials to school on the art of gyrating pelvises, one would think -- are terribly amusing (two great scenes in this vein are where one whips off his belt, lashing the fellow next to him, and where Gaz twirls his leather jacket over his head, pelting onlookers with spare change from his jacket pockets), while the group lineup dance in the unemployment office to Donna Summer's "Hot Love", as revealed in the film's trailers, is a real scream, an unadulterated burst of infectious, joyous energy.
The ensemble cast in THE FULL MONTY is invariably solid, with the standout performance coming from chameleonic Mr. Carlyle, who in a role completely different from his most famous turn as the temperamental Begbie in Danny Boyle's TRAINSPOTTING, shows great expressiveness and demonstrates the ability to be irrepressibly brash and unrestrainedly free-spirited while remaining empathic. He makes a fine central character in THE FULL MONTY, and shows promise as an unconventional, down-to-earth leading man.
THE FULL MONTY is a feelgood crowd-pleaser, and inevitably, after the film reaches its low point at the end of its second act, there is a build up towards the big nightclub stripping performance which serves as the film's showcase. All loose ends are dutifully resolved in a suitably upbeat manner, and in front of a full house, the boys finally hit the stage to the strains of "You Can Leave Your Hat On". They, of course, do not.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "I'll shoot for the Queen, and you can shoot for, well, whomever." - Richard Harris, UNFORGIVEN
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