The film The Full Monty was released in 1997, just as Tony Blair had taken hold of the country. Strange to think, given how low-key it now looks, but it was a huge critical and commercial hit at the time, the highest-earning UK box office hit pre-Titanic, which won the Bafta for Best Film and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture (which went, inevitably, to Titanic).
Back then, for those of us cool kids who preferred the previous year’s Trainspotting, it was inescapable and a bit annoying, but the film itself was, and remains, an undeniably effective piece of feelgood cinema. It perfect told the story of a group of out of work men in Sheffield finding solace, confidence and company, in training for a ‘full monty’ strip at their local club. Funny, warm, and quirky, it was all winningly British in its downbeat humour.
