Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Who knew male strippers could be so sweet?
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Full Monty
What's the Story?
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.
Is It Any Good?
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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about 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?
Movie Details
- In theaters : August 13, 1997
- On DVD or streaming : May 21, 2002
- Cast : Mark Addy , Robert Carlyle , Tom Wilkinson
- Director : Peter Cattaneo
- Studio : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 91 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : language and some nudity
- Last updated : October 7, 2019
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