Truth to tell, I was quite disappointed in this film. It has a few good features, and some fine performances, but overall it simply didn't work for me. There are a few things to get straight right upfront:

1) This is not 'The Full Monty'. Not even close. Both films are about the trials of the British working class under the Thatcher-era Tory government. Both films include ensemble casts of blue collar 'mates' coping with unemployment. That's where the resemblance ends. 'The Fully Monty' was a comedy with some serious themes, but ultimately uplifting. This film is the opposite, a grim film with a few jokes, and ultimately depressing.

2) The box/advertising is complete rubbish. Now, I'm no rook, I know the pitfalls of seeing a film just because of what's on the box (I saw this one because it was highly recommended by several friends, and because I find I enjoy British films in general). But the cover for this was utter nonsense. It advertises the relationship between the young stars (Ewan MacGregor and Tara Alexander) as the 'main theme', but it's actually quite peripheral. It says their relationship 'turns the town upside down' in a 'fun-filled comedy' that is 'hilarious and delightful'. In fact, I only saw one person in the whole town who cared at all about the relationship, and believe me, this film was in no way 'fun-filled', 'hilarious', or 'delightful'.

The basic plot centers around the workers of a coal mine in Yorkshire, England that has been slated for closure by the Tory government. The personal, familial, and communal stresses imposed by the looming closure are well-portrayed by all hands, though the mechanics of the closure process are somewhat arcane to a non-English layman like myself. The sole focal point of pride left to the community is its traditional brass band, directed by old miner Danny (Pete Postlethwaite, in a fine performance). Danny is focused on the band's big chance to compete in the Nationals at the Albert Hall, and seems oblivious to the fact that the personal worlds of all his bandsmen (including his own son) are collapsing around them. Even when his years in the mines begin to destroy his own health, he cannot see anything beyond 'the band'. It takes a series of traumatic events to bring home the truth about what is happening, and get him to see what is more important than the music.

Overall, it's a decent story, well acted. The biggest problem is that the underlying (or more correctly, overbearing) political agenda behind this film is driven into your skull scene after scene with the subtlety of a jackhammer. There is no ambiguity, no attempt to use this plight as a metaphor for the struggles of working men everywhere -- this film specifically and by-name targets Tories, Thatcher, and British mining in general and in no uncertain terms. Instead of a sympathetic treatment of a difficult subject, it simply became little more than a bitter, vitriolic, and frenzied personal hate letter to Margaret Thatcher. Regardless of your politics, this kind of movie is simply no fun to watch.

While in general sympathetic to the plight of these characters, the force with which I was fed this message really put me off, and I started finding myself unconsciously looking for things to try and balance it out. For example:

1) If these guys are so broke and destitute (we see houses repossessed, embarrassed wives caught at the supermarket checkout without enough money, etc.) why or how do they manage to spend every spare moment in the pub drinking beer? They certainly never ran out of beer money.

2) When the guy's wife leaves him with all the kids, furniture, etc, she jumps in to the passenger side of the big van...who's driving? How'd she manage to hire a van?

3) (Spoiler) When the band finally does make it to London, how do all the broke families manage to turn up for the last performance? Where are they staying, how did they travel, who's paying for all this?

4) When the evil management types snidely remark 'Coal is obsolete', we are supposed to shudder. But...isn't he RIGHT? What the film really wants to say is that the people matter, not the coal. Unfortunately, the message sent was 'we should mine coal because these guys need the work'. The real world (at least, the one I'm in), doesn't work that way.

Nits to pick? Maybe, but this film became so grim I was struggling not to turn it off. Maybe that made me a bit pickier.

There are a few laughs, but not enough to consider this a comedy by any stretch.

I am entirely sympathetic to the troubles of people caught in this kind of economic vise. I agree with a lot of the film's main ideas, and the final monologue by Postlethwaite was very effective and on the money (though in the context within which it was set in the film, unlikely and gratuitous).

One redeeming note -- the soundtrack is quite good, and the brass music very pleasant. I just get turned off by heavy-handed preaching, especially when it degenerates into expletive-filled diatribes. That's what happened to this 'comedy'.






Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older