6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Full Monty, the movie or the play?
Date of Review: Jul 8, 2001
The Bottom Line: Movie or play, the story is sweet and all about "love". Very British humor with a good soundtrack, the movie. Very American with original music, the play. See both!
I just got back from NY and I saw "The Full Monty" on Broadway and let me tell ya it is a great show. I had never seen the movie so for kicks we rented it last night. I have to tell ya that I liked them both, but they were different. Not that the story is all that different, the movie is about a bunch of out of work steel workers in a small town in England. The play is about a bunch of out of work steel workers in Buffalo. What is mainly different is the type of humor, the movie is very British and the play is all American, but both are funny.
I wanted to write this review to encourage others to get to NY and see the play. Okay so for those of you that can't travel that far, at least rent the movie. The story has a wonderful theme of "love" that runs through it. How much a man can love his child, or another man be loved by a wife. The love between friends and just how much we will be willing to do for love. In this world where we move at the speed of light and we forget how to interact with each other except for email, it is nice to remember that we can love.
I enjoyed the movie, but then I enjoy British humor. It is not the kind of movie humor that keeps you laughing until you hurt. It isn't like a Mel Brooks vintage movie, it is subtle at times and very quirky. The play on the other hand does keep you laughing the entire time. The humor in the American version is very in your face, in fact you can get a feel for that humor just listening to the soundtrack from the play.
"The Full Monty" the movie, is one of those movies that you can watch again and it will reveal another layer. The characters are full and people that you come to understand. It really doesn't matter that this takes place in England because the theme is so universal. It is the story of just how much one man loves his son and will do anything not to lose him. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but it was great how they took the movie version and plopped it into Buffalo and it works.
Now could I choose which one was better, well I would have to pick the play, but only because I just saw it and I love the songs. That is the one area where the movie and the play are very different. The movie soundtrack was a compilation of old songs from the 70'ties for the most part, but the play has all new original music. The play soundtrack tells the story, so even if you haven't seen the play but know the movie you will get it. I didn't get it at first because I had not seen the movie, but now I really get it.
I can totally recommend seeing the movie and if you do get to NY soon you have to see this show. If you aren't going to NY, just pray that it leaves Broadway to tour soon. I believe that "The Full Monty" will be the show that people will talk about for a long, long time. Maybe even longer than "The Producers", but that's another review.
