Save your money for something good and enjoyable

People are voting emotionally.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Improbable smiles dot the ads for non-comedies from ''Mrs. Brown'' to ''In the Company of Men,'' but in fact this summer at the movies has been no laughing matter. Not until ''The Full Monty,'' the irresistible tale of unemployed steelworkers in Sheffield, England, who contrive a bold money making scheme. Shy, gruff or paunchy as they are, these middle-aged men are persuaded to try stripping to raise funds and bolster damaged self-esteem. Brightly acted and casually hilarious, ''The Full Monty'' exploits this gimmick in witty, trenchant ways that are always generous, never cruel.Robert Carlyle might seem like a strange choice to play Gaz, if you remember him only from "Trainspotting," but one of his first roles was in Ken Loach's "Riff-Raff," which took place mostly on a construction site where the itinerant workers lived off the land. He has a daring here, as if he's walking on a wire and won't fall if he doesn't look down. He doesn't know himself if his plan has been inspired by courage, or bravado."The Full Monty" is about more than inventiveness in the face of unemployment. It's about ordinary blokes insisting that their women regard them as men--job or no job. If they're reduced to stripping to pay the bills, well, a lot of women know all about that. This is the undertone, and yet the movie develops a broad, healthy band of humor. It's bawdy, but also gentle and good-hearted, and I felt affection for the characters.

Six unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.I have not seen "Magic Mike" yet, but that and this are the only two films that come to find that focus on male strippers. In fact, strippers in general tend not to be the focus of films. Many films have strippers in them, but how often are they the central focus? Anyway, this film is very endearing. The stripping is humorous and not really as central as the development of the characters. By far the funniest part is when the men are all waiting in a line and their song (Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff") comes on... watch them subconsciously gyrate in public!

Ah, The Full Monty - it warms the cockles of your heart and revives your faith in human nature.  From the beguiling Yorkshire accents, to the ubiquitous swearing, to the liberal  sprinklings of political incorrectness throughout, I defy anyone not love this unassuming, feel-good British comedy.   Set in Sheffield in the 80s when unemployment was rife and men were skint, this movie truly catches the spirit of the times while evoking a strange nostalgia for that shared experience of joblessness and economic doom in 80s working class Britain.  The Full Monty comprises a motley crew of disaffected and seemingly mismatched men,  several of whom lost their jobs in the collapse of the steel industry, and follows their day to day life as they attempt to set up a striptease act to rival the Chippendales (and, of course, earn some ready cash).  Main man, Gav (Robert Carlyle) with his weasly face, and exasperated cries of 'foookin' 'ell!' every five minutes is bloody brilliant as is 'fat bastard' Dave (Mark Addy), and pale, suicidal carrot- top, Lomper (Steve Huison).   As well as superbly showcasing working class life with all it's social problems, ugliness and pathos, The Full Monty touches on broken relationships, homosexuality and the shame and hardship of long term unemployment.  However, the joy of this movie is that despite the struggles of these men and their families, there are no pity fests; life is what it is and you just get on with it.  The buoyancy, cheek and unerring spiritedness  of the characters  keeps you smiling .  Dancing in the dole queue, g-strings in the sitting room and cling film in the potting shed, this film's got it all - and the world is a better place for it.

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.