Rating:
Summary: Catching up with old friends, but mainly reliving past glories. A little bit too long, a little bit too lacking in focus.
The intro to 1997's "The Full Monty" consisted of a documentary extolling the virtues of Sheffield, a city on the up, before the "25 years later" time jump showing the grim realities of life in the post-coal town in the mid-'90s. That little movie then exploded at the box office, to make it one of the biggest hits of that year. It's been another 25 years since then, and real opportunities are still far and few between for the new generation, let alone for the original characters.
Gaz is still doing odd jobs here and there, with no fixed abode, but not quite homeless. Dave is now the caretaker at a school where his wife, Jean, is the headmistress. Lomper is now in an openly gay relationship, but not with Guy, who is engaged to be married soon (to a woman). Gerald sits in Lomper's cafe and complains about the modern world, while Horse is probably the one struggling to most to adapt. Then there's the new generation, Gaz's son Nathan is now in a profession that brings shame, at least according to Gaz, while Gaz now also has an estranged daughter, Destiny, and her journey is one of the multiple plotlines running in this limited series.
And I mean multiple plotlines. There are stories being fleshed out for all of these characters, plus new ones including Darrent, Hetty, Dilip, Cal, Tabani, and Dean. All of them get time to tell their stories, some more than others.
The biggest problem with this limited series is all these storylines are not all concluded in a satisfying manner, although the last episode tries and succeeds in some cases. The film this limited series is based on was excellent because it wasted no time telling what is actually a very simple story. There was also a clear goal that the characters tried to achieve. Here, the multiple stories become complex, and as we switch from one to the other, it feels like the show could have used a bit more planning. There is also a lack of a clear end goal, of what the series is building up to, just a series of individual goals that do sort of come together at the end. Fewer episodes, fewer stories, and a clearer main narrative would have helped here, I think. It would have also helped from a character development perspective to have fewer main characters and fewer arcs to be concerned about. This almost feels like the second season in a three-season series, as opposed to an eight-episode miniseries.
As a result, while there was a clear message about the disenfranchised and how they've been left behind that the original film had, it's less clear what this limited series is trying to say other than to say the people left behind are still being left behind, although it does have its moments. Given how the disenfranchised have been exploited by nefarious political forces these days, there's still plenty to say, but the message gets lost in the myriad of storylines.
Those that loved the original movie and wanted to see what the old gang is up to these days will enjoy this limited series. But it feels like catching up with old friends and reminiscing about past glories, and serves as just a reminder of how great the original movie was.
Watch "The Full Monty" on on Disney+ 14 June 2023.
