(It's raining men! Allelujah! It's raining men! Amen! It's raining men! Not the men I would have chosen! But, hey, it's raining MEN!!!)
CAST: Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Steve Huison, William Snape, Paul Barber, Hugo Speer, Lesley Sharp.
DIRECTOR: Peter Cattaneo
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and the world's unlikeliest male strippers right up ahead...
You can count on one hand the number of major films about male strippers - and still have enough fingers left to pick a wedgie with ease. There's the the 1983 older woman-younger man saga, A NIGHT IN HEAVEN, starring Lesley-Anne Warren as an unhappily married English professor who goes on a Ladies Night Out with her pals to a strip joint - only to discover the star dancer is, ahem, the hot student she is currently flunking (Christopher Atkins). Oooops. And then there's... Well, I guess A NIGHT IN HEAVEN is the only one I know about - unless it gets remade sometime soon. And unless you count such lovely titles as TAKE IT ALL OFF RIGHT NOW, MISTER! or ITALIAN SOCCER STUDS GO DANCING!, VOLUMES 1-5.
Compared to movies about female strippers and dancers (STRIPTEASE, SHOWGIRLS, COYOTE UGLY), the Male Stripper Genre was a seriously under-nourished film category before 1997. Then a little import from the U.K. called THE FULL MONTY arrived on these shores - and promptly exploded at the American box-office. Telling the tale of six unemployed Brits in economically-depressed Sheffield who resort to stripping as a last resort, THE FULL MONTY took the U.S. audiences by surprise with its dazzlingly confident combo of raunchy humor, understated melancholy, and - yes - completely unexpected sexiness.
The flick starts out with a promotional video on the attractions of Sheffield. If the footage is to be believed, the place might as well be London, judging by the: (1) booming economy, (2) thriving housing developments, and (3) the teeming nightlife, which seems to revolve around a bunch of really tacky discos. Obviously, the vid is chronicling Sheffield, circa 1970s (or earlier). At least, I would hope so. Anyhow, we flash forward - oh, let's see - a couple of decades or so to find that Sheffield is no longer the "shining jewel of Britain's industrial north" - and more like "the rusty screw of Britain's recession-plagued north." The evidence: all the empty and desolate factories that look like sets for future HOSTEL and SAW flicks.
It's in one of the barren factories that we meet our hero, Gaz (Robert Carlyle), a good-natured underachiever who, along with beloved son Nathan (William Snape) and surly best pal Dave (Mark Addy), are scavenging for whatever scraps of metal they can try to sell for whatever price they can get. See, both Gaz and Dave have been hit by hard times: they, like many other men in the Sheffield area, have been laid off from the steel factories. Times are tough, and Gaz and Dave are just doing what they can to get by.
Other dudes affected by the downturn in Sheffield's economy include: (1) Lumper (Steve Huison), a depressed redhead who's taking care of his ailing mum; (2) Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), a stuffy management type who's been hiding from his wife the fact that he lost his job six months ago; (3) Horse (Paul Barber), a dude "of color" who confirms stereotypes by being able to dance like a tornado and having a dick that... well, he's not called "Horse" because it's the size of a gherkin, folks; and (4) Guy (Hugo Speer), a young whipper-snapper who just happens to, um, have a... whip.... that is bigger than Horse's - know what I'm saying? Hey, look. This is a movie about amateur male-strippers, okay? Did you not expect it to be a little penis-obsessed?
All reeling from their city's economic crisis, our six heroes desperately search for a way to make ends meet. Gaz, in particular, needs money fast - otherwise, he will lose joint custody of Nathan. Sure enough, it is Gaz who ultimately comes up with the idea that, at first, rivals the idea of Uwe Boll being allowed near a movie set for sheer brilliance: after hearing that the Chippendale's dancers are in town, he proposes that he and his buds create their own male dance revue and raise money that way. And, no - that famous sense of British irony is not at work here. Gaz is dead serious, folks, despite he and his posse being variously: (1) skinny, (2) fat, (3) old, and (4) having the dancing talent of a one-legged chicken. It's not as if these six guys are: (1) Russell Crowe, (2) Chris Evans, (3) Daniel Craig, (4) Sam Worthinton, (5) Clark Kent, (6) and, uh, Clark Kent's clone.
As you can imagine, Gaz might as well have asked his pals if they would be willing to participate in a nude olive oil wrestling tournament with him - and then stream it live on the internet to the Royal Family. To say that there is a little resistance at first would be kind of like saying a few people didn't agree with Daniel Craig's casting as James Bond in the beginning. Or, as Gerald diplomatically puts it when Gaz asks him why it's such a bad idea: "Because he's fat, you're thin, and you're both fucking ugly!" and "Dancers are skilled, athletic, coordinated, in shape, and graceful. Now take a long look in the mirror!" Thanks, G. The Bard couldn't have expressed it better.
However, faced with the threat of his wife finding out he's been hiding his unemployment from her for the last six months, Gerald finally relents. Being somewhat of a classical dancer, he finds himself as the unwitting instructor to this band of would-be Fabios. The odds get even higher when, in an effort to stoke anticipation for the event, Gaz promises the women-folk of Sheffield that he and his crew will go "Full Monty" on them. Translation: they gonna rock out with their cocks out, baby!
Will Gerald succeed in whipping them into somewhat-decent shape? Will this bad idea turn into a financial windfall for them? Kind of like Daniel Craig's casting as James Bond? Or will they get laughed off the stage? Kind of like Mila Kunis's final "bad-ass" shot in THE BOOK OF ELI? Will Gaz regain joint custody of his son? Will Dave rise above his insecurity about being fat and accept his tubby, beautiful self? Does Gerald have a smokin' hot bod under those suits? And - most importantly - will the guys carry through on their promised Schlong Extravaganza?
Find out - if you dare...
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Now, I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but I didn't watch THE FULL MONTY at all until last week. Sure, I'd heard all the hoopla about it back in 1997 when it first hit big in the UK and then here in the States. I also heard the occasional glowing endorsement of it through the years, usually in connection to either Robert Carlyle or Tom Wilkinson's oeuvre. However, it was not until today that I confirmed all those raves. They're 100% accurate. To the folks out there who haven't seen the flick, it's simply awesome. Chock to the gills with droll, clever British humor, THE FULL MONTY is a daring and intelligent comedy that will have all but the most humorless folks out their chortling with glee.
Most of the comedy comes from watching these blue-collar blokes try to wrap their heads around what they've decided to do. Much like the women in CALENDAR GIRLS, these guys know they're not exactly supermodels and, accordingly, are apprehensive about baring it all. The vulnerability and insecurity that the men bring to their roles is winning and touching in equal measure. As Gaz, Robert Carlyle ably shows the humble and noble core of a character who's had some hard knocks, and who is constantly and unfairly being written off by those around him. What matters, though, is Gaz's love for Nathan - which is the solid center of the film, and Gaz's impetus for doing what he does: he just wants to take care of his son. As I mentioned to a friend last week about his own wonderful Dad: "The measure of a father is not how rich or successful he is - but how much he has cared and sacrificed for those he loves."
Tom Wilkinson, as always, is great as the initially stuffy Gerald, who gradually loosens up to reveal a more tentative and gentle side that might have been obscured by pride. Plus, he brings some real masculinity to the role - and real fire to his dancing. Mark Addy is both sardonic and sensitive as Dave, the slightly overweight guy who questions his own attractiveness but, ultimately, accepts himself for who he is. Paul Barber, Hugo Speer, and Steve Huison round out the sextet - and are all vibrant and memorable in their roles as second-fiddles to the main three leads.
But THE FULL MONTY also has a serious side. For me, what's most touching is the statement it makes about men, the expectations society has of them - as husbands, fathers, bread-winners, care-givers - and the difficulties in sometimes meeting those expectations. Each of the six men in this movie is trying to: (1) take care of someone they love, or (2) live up to their responsibilities, or (3) do something that makes them feel alive again. Even though the surface motivation for them is the potential money, the real driving force behind their actions is to take charge of their own fates - to be men again. This is never more clear than in Gaz's relationship with Nathan. Gaz is afraid that his son may not think well of him because of Gaz's somewhat humble status in life. But, in the movie's best scene, Nathan proves his father wrong - by basically telling Gaz that he's proud of him - and wants to be just like him.
Also, there is another scene mid-way through the film that is both funny and heart-breaking (more heart-breaking), especially in the context of our current economically-depressed times: a middle-aged man, desperate for work, auditions (awkwardly) to be one of the dancers - while his young son waits outside. The combination of shame, determination, and wounded dignity on the guy's face as he realizes he didn't make the cut drives home a haunting point that we should never forget: our fathers make great sacrifices for us everyday. In the end, it's like I told my friend: "Be proud of your dad - because he's always there for you - and you're just like him. And that's a very good thing."
Bottom line: the reason THE FULL MONTY is such a terrific film is not just because of its funny main plot about six average blokes taking it all off. It's also because of the underlying message it makes about men, their vulnerabilities, and - most memorably - the sacrifices they make for those they love.
Now - on a lighter note: let's get that remake of A NIGHT IN HEAVEN started!
