Sadly Over-hyped

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The Full Monty is a charming feel good comedy but with dark undertones. Sheffield might had been once a city on the move thanks to its steel industry but by the 1990s it was facing industrial ruin. The factories were closing.Gary (Robert Carlyle) is unemployed and behind his child maintenance payments. With his best friend Dave (Mark Addy) he is reduced to stealing steel girders for spare cash.When they stumble upon women lining up at a working men's club to see The Chippendales, they hit upon the idea of doing their own strip show but go fully naked.They get a group of six together but they really cannot dance and some of them do not have the physique. Only Gerald (Tom Wilkinson) their former foreman has dance training and sets about teaching the rest the dance moves.As time goes on the men bond as they deal with issues such as being in debt, without a job or relationship problems.In some ways the film was inspired by The Boys from the Blackstuff without too much of the black comedy and grimness although it does have raw and rowdy humour.Robert Carlyle does a good northern accent more chipper than Chippendale who is confident until the time to start the show comes. Mark Addy and Hugo Speer became well known faces after this film. Horse played by Paul Barber is good fun as the veteran disco dancer.

This film was just shown on BBC1 in honour of its 20th anniversary of release, and it deserves it. It's charming, very funny, touching, and speaks to the reality of being unemployed with little chance of employment in a depressed economy. It should be soul-destroying, yet these men keep trying and, ultimately, succeed.*big spoiler warning* What I love most is that they don't suddenly turn into the world's best dancers/strippers. That's not what it's all about. It's about friendship, fatherhood, marriage and unexpected love. Such a lovely film with a sensational soundtrack as a bonus. I seriously hope Hollywood won't try to turn it into a 'feel-good' movie with model-pretty actor/dancers. *shudder*The actors here are completely believable as ordinary, working class men just trying to survive. Robert Carlyle is, as always, amazing. Probably best known now as Rumplestiltskin in 'Once Upon a Time', his acting history is impeccable, as is his Yorkshire accent. Like David Tennant, another Scot, he is a chameleon. I look forward to seeing everything he does.

THE FULL MONTY was one of those movies that HURT to watch: by the time I left the theater, my face was actually sore from smiling. It's laugh-out-loud funny and moving at once. The predicament our heroes find themselves in is one that all too many of us have experienced at one time or another. (I wish I'd thought of doing something like this when I was really down and out- and in better shape...) Robert Carlyle has long been one of my favorite actors- in part because of this movie (not to mention HAMISH MACBETH or 28 WEEKS LATER); he's great as the down-and-out father forced to do SOMETHING to distance himself from The Dole and all its attendant stigma. The scene of the guys standing in line listening to music that gets their proverbial engines running had me laughing out loud in the theater. (I remember a scene from HAMISH MACBETH that STILL brings a smile to my face. A newcomer to his jurisdiction comments on his name by saying: "To be or not to be- THAT Macbeth?" "No," replies Carlyle: "THAT'S Officer Hamlet.")

Sometimes the timing of a film's release is so accidentally perfect that it captures the mood of the public and becomes a hit. Such a film is The Full Monty. Made on a meagre budget of £3 million, this small Sheffield-set comedy-drama went to achieve unprecedented commercial and critical success. It became the highest grossing film to that point at the UK box office; was nominated for the prestigious Best Picture Oscar (losing out to Titanic); and scooped several BAFTAs including Best Film and Best Actor for Robert Carlyle. A fine haul indeed for a modest little production set in a run-down neighbourhood of the steel city.Struggling ex-steelworkers Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and Dave (Mark Addy) spend their days breaking into shut-down steel mills searching for scrap metal to steal and sell. Sometimes they are joined by Gaz's son Nathan (William Snape), his child from a broken relationship with ex-wife Mandy (Emily Woof). One day Gaz notices a number of women entering a local social club and discovers that they are going to watch a male strip show. He hits upon the idea of raising a little money by putting on his own show. Enlisting other unemployed desperadoes like his former manager Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), ex-security guard Lomper (Steve Huison), smooth mover Horse (Paul Barber) and well-endowed hunk Guy (Hugo Speer), the unlikely lotharios set about practising their dance moves and perfecting a raunchy routine. The stakes are upped considerably when some women spot the lads putting up posters to advertise their show. When the women laugh off their ambitious scheme, Gaz decides to up the ante by telling them they will be going "the Full Monty" (fully naked). "Nobody said anything to me about the Full Monty!" gasps Horse, but his protests come too late… the word is already out and the guys have a 400-strong audience of baying women to satisfy.In truth, The Full Monty could quite easily have turned up as a feature length TV-style drama - at first glance it certainly isn't an especially cinematic sort of film (e.g. a film that belongs on the big screen). Thanks to Simon Beaufoy's cracking script and the game performances, it transcends its small roots to become a thoroughly enjoyable story indeed. Performances that stand out include Carlyle as the desperate Gaz, Addy as the terribly self-conscious and overweight Dave, and Wilkinson as their once-proud manager, now reduced to teaching a bunch of 'commoners' to dance (as well as joining them in their potentially humiliating enterprise). Most of the performances are strong right down the cast list, but these three are a notch ahead of the rest. The dialogue is often very funny and the grim locations add to the film's sense of social deprivation and desperation. Like most comedies, repeat viewings gradually diminish the film's humour and freshness… but first time round it is a vastly entertaining film, successfully managing to generate a feel-good atmosphere within its grimmest of settings. Director Peter Cattaneo never really pushed on after The Full Monty – to date he has only made three other features (none of which match the giddy heights of this one). It's a shame that he hasn't been able to capitalise on such a phenomenally successful debut.As Yorkshire-based cinema goes, The Full Monty is the most successful film ever to have come out of the region. It's also one of the best.