Dir.: Peter Cattaneo; Script: Simon Beaufoy; Phot.: John de Borman; Ed.: Nick More, Dave Freeman; Mus.: Anne Dudley; Cast: Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Lesley Sharp, Emily Woof, Steve Huison, Paul Barber, Hugo Speer, Deirdre Costello, Bruce Jones; Prod. & Sales: Uberto Pasolini, Redwave Films, 26 Groodge Street, Londres W1P 1FG (Grande-Bretagne), tél.: (171) 436 22 25, fax: (171) 436 27 72;Dist.: Fox Searchlight.

In need of some quick cash, Gaz hatches a plan to launch a striptease act in order to earn himself and his out-of-luck steelworker pals some much-needed money. Unlike the Chippendale dancers, whose visit to a local Ladies' Night inspires them, these boys are hardly ideal exotic dancer material. Gaz's best friend Dave is overweight and a little down-in-the dumps over a recent bout of impotence; ex-foreman and amateur ballroom dancer Gerald (recently pink-slipped but afraid to tell his credit-card-dependent wife) is hopelessly uptight; Horse, an old geezer whose dance repertoire includes the bump, the bus stop, the stomp and the funky chicken; and Guy, who despite his love of "Singin' in the Rain" has no sense of rhythm, is, however, generously endowed. Still, with boundless determination and Gerald's well-meaning choreography, they're soon dancing to the sounds of Donna Summer, Hot Chocolate, Gary Glitter, Sister Sledge and Tom Jones as they prepare to go the terrifying but necessary revelation that will distinguish them form "your average ten-bit stripper" -- the Full Monty. "Director Cattaneo gives a Springsteen-style poignancy to this ode to workingmen caught in a desperate situation. The awkward but tight emotional bond between Gaz and his young son imbues the story with very real heart, while the vaudevillian antics of six guys trying to perfect the art of the pelvic thrust, make up the big, beefy body." -- Alex Lewin (Premiere)