Saw The Full Monty, the male stripper film from the 90s. The film opens in Sheffield which was apparently a dying, once-great steel-town at the time. The protagonist and his friends are out of work ex-steel workers who have no jobs and decide to try their hand at stripping. This might be a pointed bit of social commentary about exploitation but the audience seems to be other Sheffield-ians, so nothing doing there I think. There's some male body-positivity thrown in however, and they kindly throw a bone to the gays in audience, which is nice.
The film is funny in a sort For Better or Worse, dramedy kind of way. I think it was originally a play. Most of the film takes place in fixed locations with, of course, a big dance number at the end. The draw of the play would then be the same as the draw to their big finale strip show: will they or won't they go Full Monty?
I generally liked the film. It's not as sexy as what I take to be the modern update, Magic Mike (I haven't actually seen Magic Mike yet, so please roll your eyes if I'm wrong) but it's cute and sweet. This is sort of mirrored in the protagonists, who are not professions and are attractive in a believable, guy next door, warts-and-all kind of way. The final show has an almost community-center feel to it. It's cute. It's not hilarious and it's not super-sexy, but it's comfy and good.
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