Wonkette Movie Night: The Full Monty

'You can leave your hat on.'

A full monty is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the full amount expected, desired, or possible” or “a striptease performance involving full nudity, especially by a man.” This film, The Full Monty, gives us both.

The steelworkers in the town of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, have been made redundant. It is the 1990s, and as the steel mills shut down, nothing is done to help the people whose livelihoods had depended on them. One of the unemployed is Gary who is desperate to get some money for child support. Stealing scrap metal with his friend Dave is not going well for either man.

They spend their days at the job center with nothing to do but complain. When the Chippendales come to town, Gary figures some real men like him and his pals could do the same thing. Once they have pulled their group together the hard part begins. Which is also a problem for some of the men.

As they practice their performance, they begin to deal with issues that women face daily. While the men are discussing a woman’s physical attributes in a magazine, Dave sees the irony in their chat, as he is concerned with his own body image. He says to his friends about the audience for the upcoming show, “I just pray they’re a bit more understanding than us.”

These six men find companionship, hope, and confidence in doing what they need to do to support themselves and their families. Two of them even find love.

The Full Monty also has a great soundtrack, winning the 1998 Oscar for Best Music for composer Anne Dudley. As you need some good beats if you’re gonna dance! Nothing is more fun, sexy, and danceable than Tom Jones singing You Can Leave Your Hat On.

The Full Monty stars Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, Hugo Spear, Steve Huison, and Lesley Sharp. Directed by Peter Cattaneo.

The Full Monty is available with subscription on Hulu. $3.99 in the usual places.

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The animated short references a question frequently asked in the Wonkette non-comments. No News, Great News was directed by Frank Guarini. From CGMeetup it premiered on Jan 18, 2025.