h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Funny films are often about the occasion and the company - in other words it's the viewers' spirits that elevate them from amusing to hilarious.

Films that are memorably funny in their own right usually have another side : such as dark like Dr Strangelove or clever like Groundhog Day or both like Brazil.

I know it's because it depicts my home city so evocatively, but I still love The Full Monty. There's a kind of tragic stoicism mixed in with the humour that gives the story its personal resonance.

Plus there's the scene in the dole queue where they start thrusting to Hot Stuff.

Deb

(oh dear, I'm gonna disagree again... sorry!)

I thought the Full Monty didn't work at all. The laughs were too widely spaced and the "ee it's grim up north" feel was too heavy to support the humour. Similarly, what should have been a lighthearted "family" kind of film had it's tone ruined by the amount of swearing.

The problem is, it would have been difficult to depict men that worked in industry without a certain amount of swearing. Also, these were men that- through desperation- worked as strippers. People at the end of their tethers are wont to resort to colourful language.
I thought it was an amazing film, I loved the way that it underlined the fact that these men are not useless, no matter that they felt thrown on the scrapheap.

'I know it's because it depicts my home city so evocatively, but I still love The Full Monty. There's a kind of tragic stoicism mixed in with the humour that gives the story its personal resonance.'

I enjoyed The Full Monty for similar reasons. Having lived in Sheffield over the period which included the collapse of the steel industry and the miners strike, I enjoyed the depiction of the resilence and humour of the characters and community in their adversity. I loved living in Sheffield, it's a great city, so I also enjoyed watching the film and recognising the sites.