| Director Peter Cattaneo's THE FULL
MONTY is a fun, feel good, comedy. The basic story involves a group
of unemployed steelworkers in a runtown town in England, desperate
for money who become inspired to make some quick money, after watching
normally civilized women, go bonkers over a touring troupe of Chippendale
dancers. They dream up an outrageous scheme, and start their unlikely
idea in motion, undaunted by obstacles that happen along the way.
Against all odds, they prepare a male strip act for a local club.
This "good-humored, jovial and cheerful"
comedic screenplay was written by the talented British writer,
Simon Beaufoy.
My favorite scene takes place late in the film,
when the six wanna-be male strippers finally perform at a club
in front of a live (mostly female) paying audience. The scene,
while not very long, is fun, well choreographed, and well worth
waiting for.
The term, The Full Monty, means full nudity.
While THE FULL MONTY DOESN'T deliver full, frontal male nudity,
it does feature the male dancers bare butts, so I guess the film
should have been titled, "The Half Monty."
However, what was revealed in the strip routine
was considered plenty by the actors participating. In filming
the real performance of the actors stripping, with no "stunt
doubles" to step in at the crucial moment, and in front of
a live audience of rowdy extras, the director promised the actors
that this "undressing in front of screaming women" would
be a one shot deal; no second takes. Despite funny feelings of
having their personal modesty thrown out the window, for the enjoyment
of a wild audience, they didn't break character, and performed
like the professional actors they were.
"The Full Monty" has some excellent
songs on the soundtrack. Featured artists include Donna Summer,
Hot Chocolate, Gary Glitter, Sister Sledge, and Tom Jones, who
sings a new version of Randy Newman's hit, "You Can Leave
Your Hat On," which is the song used in the final performance
at the strip club. The film's Music Score was composed, orchestrated,
and conducted by Anne Dudley. The film won the Oscar for Best
Original Comedy Musical Score.
Rated: R - Definitely, a comedy for adults.
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