The Full Monty

Robert Carlyle - Gaz
Tom Wilkinson - Gerald
Mark Addy - Dave
Hugo Speer - Guy
Paul Barber - Horse
Lesley Sharp - Jean
Emily Woof - Mandy

The Full Monty is a touching, and often hilarious comedy based in a once thriving Yorkshire steel town, Sheffield "City of Steel" has nearly been destroyed by the after-effects of former British Prime Minister Thatcher's regime. The film opens with a newsreel from the mid 1970's, when the city of Sheffield was a booming steel town, it then cuts to present-day Sheffield, where the factories have been closed down and the workers are now unemployed. Gaz (Robert Carlyle), whose wife has custody of their child Nathan, and wants him to pay income support. Gaz and his pals have been unable to recover from the devastating closure of the steel mills and they lead aimless existences until the sexy Chippendale dancers come to town and wow the local women with their bronzed buffed bodies and sinuous moves. The amount of money raked in by the troupe inspires Gaz to create a group of exotic dancers, one that promises to give their audience the "full monty" (in other words, to completely strip). Gaz's podgy mate Dave (Mark Addy) is the first to be enlisted, though Dave is miserably unaware of his love handles and failing libido.

The two friends are joined by their stuffy former mill supervisor Gerald (Tom Wilkinson). As his hobby is teaching amateur ballroom dance, he becomes the choreographer. The three are soon joined by others, Horse (Paul Barber) has some good dance moves but is sadly long in the tooth, Guy (Hugo Speer) a plumber whose greatest asset is in his Y-fronts, while the depressive Lomper (Steve Huison) dances to keep from killing himself. To pump themselves up, the group watches Flashdance several times. An energetic and irreverent look at the character's desperate struggles to maintain a modicum of self respect after their livelihood and to a large degree, their identity is stripped away, The Full Monty is simultaneously funny and touching.