Common Sense Note
Parents should know that despite its racy premise (a group of unemployed male steelworkers turn to stripping to make ends meet), THE FULL MONTY is a surprisingly warm film, very family-friendly for those with older children. Though the frontal male "full monty" of the title never materializes, several scenes feature naked male behinds and there is a shot of a woman urinating into a urinal while exposing her rear end. The film's characters also smoke continually, drink casually and regularly, and they are willing to show their goodies in order to make a buck. One character also makes a suicide attempt, and two of the men fall discreetly in love over the course of the movie.
Families who see this movie could discuss morals and ethics--do they have a price? How does the financial desperation of the characters convince them to do things they are uncomfortable with doing? How does looking at naked bodies in the context of public entertainment affect the way we think about sex and intimacy?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Joyce Slayton
THE FULL MONTY centers on Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and Dave (Mark Addy), a pair of former co-workers who, in post-steel boom Sheffield, England, are flat broke and in desperate enough need to consider putting on a Chippendales-style striptease act. They recruit four other men, including their former boss at the steel plant, to join in on their scheme. They start rehearsing their bump-and-grind; all leading up to the one night when they will bare all and, hopefully, make thousands of pounds.
The great charm of this film is how all of the characters are allowed to possess recognizably human quirks. Each of them wants the stripping money for different reasons: Gaz needs to pay back child support so he can spend more time with his son. Dave does not want to take the security guard job his wife is pushing on him. Former steel supervisor Gerald (Tom Wilkinson) has not even told his wife he has been laid off yet. Watching these men grow to be friends in the service of an admittedly odd quest is a much more tender experience than one expects in a story about a group of down-and-out peelers.
Families who enjoy The Full Monty may also like Billy Elliott, about a Scottish boy who loves and learns to dance, or Calendar Girls, the true story of a group of British middle-age women that pose nude to raise money for a cancer charity.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentA married couple is shown in a rather chaste clinch; there is sexual intimacy implied between two of the male characters. |
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LanguageThe movie is loaded with British epithets, some of which (like "poof" or "arse") will fly right over the heads of younger viewers. |
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Social BehaviorEach of the characters in this movie has tender, sympathetic moments, but some are shown stealing, drinking to excess, and deceiving their spouses. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoCharacters are shown smoking cigarettes and drinking cocktails and beer; some of the action takes place in a bar. |
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