The Full Monty

“The Full Monty” has become one of the increasing number of independent films that has managed to breakout into the mainstream. It had several amusing moments, but unfortunately the moral shortcomings outweighed its originality and clever humor.

The story follows a group of down and out men in the formerly booming, British steel town of Sheffield. One of the men notices a poster for a traveling male stripper show. Unable to pay his child support, which will allow him joint custody of his son, he decides to put together his own stripper show, using himself and his friends as the dancers. The most hilarious moments of the film were the practice sessions as the guys try to work up a routine. Never mind they can’t dance, have merely average bodies, and no experience at this sort of thing. Amazingly, once the town hears who is going to be in the show, guys they know, the tickets sell out. Along the way, the characters deal with the problems in their own personal lives, though often not in a Biblical way. In the end, they do the show and give the audience “the full monty,” a slang term for total nudity.

I had mixed feeling about going to see a film about stripping, which I feel is a way of commercializing lust. While the film contains some moral messages about friendship and perseverance, these are outweighed by the immoral foundation of the whole plot. While it does have some moments of surprising humor, I cannot recommend this film to other Christians.