THE FULL MONTY
A Film Review by Brian Takeshita
Rating: **1/2 out of ****
In the beginning of THE FULL MONTY, we are shown a cheesy early 70's promotional film for the city of Sheffield, England. Sheffield, we are told, is a city based on steel. Massive factories employ thousands of workers in an industry which will never die. Fast forward 25 years into the present, where Sheffield is now somewhat less than a boom town, with a large portion of its male population looking for jobs.
We meet Gary (Robert Carlyle) and Dave (Mark Addy), two unemployed steelworkers reduced to stealing scrap from the abandoned factory which for ten years was their place of work. Gary has a son who is shuttled back and forth between living with Gary and his ex-wife and her live-in lover. The ex lives in a comfortable house in a good section of town, while Gary lives in a cramped apartment in a near tenement neighborhood. What Gary lacks in material possessions, he tries to make up for with love for his boy. Dave, on the other hand, is married, albeit not happily. He suspects his wife of looking for another man to replace him, due to his current state of unemployment and his overweight condition. To top it all off, he's battling a bout of impotence.
While walking home from a botched attempt at "liberating" a steel girder from their old factory, Gary and Dave notice hundreds of women lined up to enter a nightclub to see the Chippendale Dancers. They first scoff at the performance, but when Gary finds out he needs 700 pounds in order to file for joint custody of his son, they realize that male exotic dancing would be an easy way to make some quick cash. Their first obstacle, however, is that neither of them can dance very well, so they attempt to enlist the help of their former boss, Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), who happens to take weekly dance lessons. Gerald, like Gary and Dave, is unemployed, but he can't be involved in such foolishness because he has "standing." Besides, he's on his way to a job interview, his first in six months. Gerald also points out a second problem. Dave is fat, Gary is skinny, and they're both ugly.
In retaliation, Dave and Gary manage to sabotage Gerald's interview, but quickly realize their mistake when Gerald has a near breakdown, confessing that this was his last hope. He hadn't told his wife he was jobless, and "she's still got credit cards. She's out there right now, shopping!" After making amends, Gerald agrees to help Dave and Gary learn to dance and audition other dancers. After all, he needs the money, too.
In general, the characters are quite likable. For example, even though Gary takes his son Nathan (William Snape) along with him to steal scrap, and has him run the tape player when grown men are stripping to Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff", you know it's only because he wants to spend time with his boy. You can't help but like a character who's willing to take off his clothes and risk being a laughing-stock for a reason like that. Robert Carlyle brings a lot of earnestness to his role, and the scenes involving Gary and Nathan have a tangible sense of genuine affection.
The accents and terminology get in the way in a few places, and I think I lost out on several of the jokes due to the fact that some of the dialog was unintelligible. If I were from Sheffield, I'm sure I would have been rolling in the aisles. Luckily, this wasn't a major problem as most of the jokes were sight gags anyway. About 80 percent of the movie's laughs are derived from watching these unemployed steelworkers trying to shake their moneymakers. One might think that the same joke would grow tiresome after a while, but director Peter Cattaneo does a good job of making each attempt at learning a little different. A funny little scene involves the would-be dancers trying to get tips by reviewing a tape of FLASHDANCE. They get encouraged when they notice that the Jennifer Beals character is a steelworker, too.
One problem I saw was the way the main characters bonded so quickly. Gary and Dave already know each other, but everyone else is basically thrown together in a very short time. One day they are strangers, and the next day they are working as a team to pursue a goal. The relationship between Gary, Dave and Gerald even has to overcome animosity and a class boundary. I suppose a case could be made for the common plight of unemployment, but since the movie only runs an hour and a half, a little extra time could have been taken in order to cultivate the relationships a little more carefully.
All in all, THE FULL MONTY is an enjoyable film. While laughing at the characters, we are also wrapped up in the desire to see these folks get a little better each time. While part of this has to do with the characters' likability, I also think it's because they're just regular guys like the rest of us, and not muscle-bound hunks. We'd like to see normal people get the same success and adoration that the top of the genetic pyramid so often hordes. Although I didn't really need to see them take their clothes off, I was rooting for them all the same.
Review posted October 21, 1997
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