The Full Monty Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Full Monty Blu-ray Movie Review

Grin and bare it.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 27, 2014

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

That oft-repeated adage could well be an epigraph for The Full Monty, a surprisingly ebullient depiction of the lengths a gaggle of unemployed men in the economically depressed world of nineties Britain will go to in order to not just scrape together a bit of spending money but (perhaps more importantly) to restore their sense of self worth. The Full Monty may seem to be a comedy on its surface, but take a peek underneath (so to speak) and an unexpectedly nuanced treatment of some very dramatic subject matter is handled with precision and aplomb by Simon Beaufoy’s Academy Award nominated screenplay. Sheffield is a fairly large city in central England that had built its economy largely on industries like steel and coal, but beginning in the 1970s, global competition reduced the area’s market share and by the 1990s, things were in pretty bad shape, with huge unemployment rolls and a lingering sense of malaise that seemed to color many residents’ psyches. Gary “Gaz” Schofield (Robert Carlyle, Trainspotting, Once Upon a Time: The Complete First Season) and Dave Horsefall (Mark Addy, Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season) are buddies and former employees of the local steel mill, consigned to finding and selling scrap in the wake of the mill’s closure, a perhaps fitting analog to the “leftover” ambience that haunts their lives. When Gaz notices an ad for a Chippendale’s style show playing at a local club, and sees gaggles of local women lining up to ogle muscled male flesh, he gets the (questionably) bright idea to form his own striptease group. That’s the general set up of The Full Monty, and while a lot of the film’s raucous humor stems from the fact that these guys are not exactly Chippendale material, there’s a rather profound emotional aspect here that suffuses the film with elements of both melancholy and reslilience.

From a tonal perspective alone, The Full Monty is one of the most full blooded films of its era, especially when one considers that a lot of people tend to try to pigeonhole it as a “mere” comedy. Just a cursory review of some of the trials the major characters are facing would tend to support the thesis that this is a very dour and even depressive drama. Aside from the fact that most of the major male characters are unemployed, there’s a litany of other issues afflicting all of them. Gaz is encountering alimony payment problems due to his lack of employment, something that affects his access to his beloved young son Nathan (William Snape). Dave has encountered the bain of many an aging man—a rather sizable paunch—that has affected his physical abilities (including intimacy with his wife) as well as making him overly self conscious in general. Later the duo team up with Lomper (Steve Huison), one of the few guys who actually has a job but whose mental anguish leads to an attempted suicide. The somewhat older Gerald (Tom Wilkinson) is a sad sack unable to shake the feeling that he’s “used goods”, past his prime and incapable of ever achieving anything in whatever time he has left. This is a “comedy”?

And yet despite all this “kitchen sink” material, The Full Monty is almost defiantly cheerful in the face of tragedy. There’s a no nonsense stick-to-itiveness to these characters which is brilliantly depicted by the extremely game and nuanced cast. The Full Monty can segue from hilarity to heartstring tugging pathos at virtually the drop of a hat (and/or pants), but under the inspired direction of Peter Cattaneo, things never seem forced or manipulative, and indeed one of the film’s greatest strengths is how organic these stories and lives seem. These are real people, not cartoons, something that makes their incredible exploits all the more remarkable.

Neil Diamond had a big hit back in the early seventies with an anthem of defiance called “I Am. . .I Said,” a plaintive if insistent cry of existence that most people can easily relate to, especially if they feel like they’re being chewed up in the cogs of everyday life. That tune could serve as the rallying call for the guys who decide to go “full monty” in this film. They’ve been tossed aside like so much garbage, but instead of simply suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, they decide to do something outrageous themselves. Their ostensible reasoning may be that it will bring them a little scratch to help them to get by, but the film makes it abundantly clear that there’s more on the line here than simply putting bread on the table. These are guys who have had their dignity battered by a relentless economy and other personal trials. Instead of hiding in the shadows, they’re damned intent on showing the world all they have to offer, and that results in a uniquely triumphant denouement where the guys may be baring their bodies but are also revealing an inherent steeliness in their souls.

The Full Monty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Full Monty is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. This is a surprisingly significant upgrade from the previous released DVD versions of the film, especially with regard to color saturation and overall color space. Flesh tones are natural and the film's great use of locations really pops quite vividly here, with an abundance of bright and inviting greens, blues and reds. Close-ups look sharp and clear and offer great fine detail. Midrange and wide shots still look rather soft, and in fact some of the wide shots are not markedly improved over their DVD counterparts. Contrast is strong and consistent. There are no signs of problematic denoising or sharpening efforts here, and the result is a very filmic presentation that should easily please the many fans of The Full Monty.

The Full Monty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

No, that's not a typo above in our audio specs listing—there are indeed two English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes, one in "American" English and the other in "UK" English. The mixes are identical, and in fact even the post looping is pretty seamless, but it's fun to listen to both and see how changes were made to demystify the somewhat arcane slang the guys sometimes use. Surround activity is most noticeable in the musical sequences, which offer great immersion and some really nicely full lower frequencies, but even in some of the outdoor scenes there's more than adequate ambient environmental sounds helping to create a very lifelike atmosphere. Dialogue is clear, though accents (and slang in the UK version) can be hard to decipher, so the optional subtitles are appreciated.

The Full Monty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements from the Fully Exposed Edition 2 DVD set have been ported over to this release in SD (but note that the Music Machine, which simply accesses the discrete musical sequences from the film, is now in 1080p).

• Commentary by Director Peter Cattaneo and Actor Mark Addy. Addy's fairly quiet here, leaving the bulk of this commentary to Cattaneo, who does an excellent job detailing aspects of the shoot.


• Commentary by Producer Uberto Pasolini is a rather hesitant, halting commentary and probably only for diehard fans.


• The Deleted Footage with Optional Commentary by Peter Cattaneo and Mark Addy (480i; 33:35)


• The Cast (480i; 4:32) includes interviews with Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, Tom Wilkinson, and Hugo Speer and Steve Huison, Paul Barber, and William Snape. Little factoids are printed on the right that give biographical data and career credits.


• Original Publicity Campaign (480i; 11:16) features trailers and TV spots.


• Music Machine (1080p; 20:52) offers the musical sequences from the film.


• Development (480i; 23:24) charts the course of pre-production with several featurettes.


• Production (480i; 42:49) does much the same thing for the production process, but includes some great material like an interview with the film's Oscar winning composer Anne Dudley. There's also a fun piece on the difference between British and American English (you'll note that there are two English soundtracks on this release).


• The Success and Its Aftermath (480i; 9:59) focuses on the rather unexpected phenomenon The Full Monty became after its release.


• A Bigger Picture — A Look at the British Film Industry in the 90s (480i; 28:57) is a really interesting piece on an industry which, kind of like the steel mills in Sheffield, found itself in a bit of the doldrums in the 1990's. The Full Monty helped change that.

The Full Monty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The inherent sweetness of The Full Monty may be its most defining characteristic, something that's all the more remarkable given the odd basic set up and the many tribulations the various characters suffer throughout the film. Buoyed by pitch perfect performances, a very smart screenplay and a sure directorial hand, The Full Monty is that rare film that is able to tickle the funny bone and touch the emotions quite profoundly, sometimes in the same moment. Technical merits here are very strong, and The Full Monty comes Highly recommended.