The Full Monty

25 years ago Sheffield, the huge steel city in Yorkshire, was a 'city on the move'... not any more. During the Thatcher years, the mills closed down, throwing thousands of people out of work. Gaz, superbly played by the ubiquitous Robert Carlyle, and Dave (Mark Addy) are just two of the men emasculated by unemployment and a loss of purpose in life. Gaz's wife has left him, and he may also lose access to his son; Dave is also having marital difficulties. Salvation, of a sort, comes when the friends meet the suicidal Lomper, played by Steve Huison, and get the idea of raising money by putting on a strip show in which they'll be the stars. They recruit Horse (Paul Barber), who can dance after a fashion, the well-hung Guy (Hugo Speer) and even Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), a former factory foreman, too ashamed to tell his wife he's out of a job. Rehearsals get underway...

Though modest in production values, Peter Cattaneo's working-class comedy is an absolute delight, and another major achievement for the recently revived British film industry. It's not only a very funny, warm-hearted film; it's also a very honest one and quite inspirational as well. Women characters take a back seat - though of course they form the audience cheering on the guys to perform a 'full monty' – to strip completely. This is a story about men who have the guts to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start all over again.