Full Monty - 1997

This is a good light movie. The movie centers on a group of men who are out of work and hopeless. The steel industry that drove their economy has gone away. Prospects for a new job are few and far between and below their dignity.

Enter the Chippendales. When a group of male strippers plays the local club, the men get the idea of raising money by become strippers themselves. They figure that if women will go crazy over those other men, they'll go even crazier over them. Then reality sets in. As they audition for a full set of dancers, they realize what a sorry lot they are. But each one has good reasons why they must go forward and they eventually do.

This movie does a very good job of giving each man a different motivation and story. One does it for child support. One to recover money that his wife has been spending. The most compelling is a self described 'fat bastard' who does it to feel like a desireable man again.

A good movie. I remember comparing it with 'Waking Ned Devine' and thinking that it came off second best. I still feel that way. Not nearly at the same level as the rest of the competition.