Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Full Monty Moment

**

This past weekend my daughter and I watched Calendar Girls, a 2003 British film about a group of middle-aged Yorkshire village women who decide to raise money for charity by producing an “artistic” nude calendar. I found it pleasantly entertaining and funny until about the two-thirds mark, when the movie lost its way. It began as a heartwarming story about a group of likable women who come to grips with aging and death by learning to embrace life, only to turn into some sort of Faustian tale about the temptations and repercussions of fame. It was no longer funny, or pleasant, but squirmishly uncomfortable, and I found myself wandering out to do laundry, get some tea, whatever, until the final, low key but gently-pleasing denouement.

But when you’re a writer, even a less-than-perfect book or movie can have something to teach you. In hitting Le Google to see if the move was, indeed, based on a true story (it was), I found this gem by critic Derek Elley. Elley praises the film for its gentle and likeable (“if sometimes dramatically wobbly”) spirit, and notes almost in passing the film’s lack of a “big Full Monty-like finale to send audiences buzzing into the streets.”

And I thought, Wow. The Full Monty Moment. Is there any better phrase to describe a pitch-perfect ending that provides both a satisfying finale and an uplifting rush?

The Full Monty is a great story about a group of unemployed steelworkers who rediscover their self-confidence and self-respect by putting on a male strip show. Its masterful screenplay almost never wobbles, and certainly never forgets its theme. And when those guys finally go out on stage, when we watch them successfully pull off (no pun intended) what once looked like a joke and see them smiling and full of confidence, the moment is magic. One can easily imagine theatre audiences spilling into the streets, as Elley notes, all abuzz with the experience (buzz is good; it sells movie tickets and books).

Of course, not every tale contains such a pleasantly uplifting moment within it. Some stories are dark and depressing and require a different sort of moment entirely. And some tales are simply inherently wobbly and gentle, and leave you with a warm glow rather than a rush. In thinking back on Calendar Girls, I’m not sure one could really fault the screenwriter for either the movie's unevenness or its lack of a “Full Monty Moment.” If there was another way to tell that story, I don’t see it. The truth is, some story ideas are basically flawed; even in the hands of a master, they will never produce a truly grand product. Does that mean those stories should never be told? Not necessarily. Despite its shortcomings, Calendar Girls was enjoyable and heartwarming (and profitable—that’s important). If the filmmakers had canned their project when they realized it didn’t a have a “Full Monty Moment,” they would have been making a mistake.

But I do love that phrase and the concept it encapsulates. It’s something for a writer to keep in mind when considering a story idea: “Does this story contain within it the potential for a grand Full Monty Moment?”

31 comments:

Sisker said...

How interesting! I'd just finished watching the movie this morning while on the treadmill. Turn on the closed captioning and walk on. Takes about three days to watch.

I remember the Full Monty moment from the first time I saw it, the full smile on my face--and I had it again.

Now I'm trying to think of another example. Perhaps (don't laugh) Never Been Kissed. There's poor Drew Barrymore waiting and waiting on the pitcher's mound. Will our hero come and kiss her? Of course. But every time I see it, I wait and wait and then I smile.

paz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
paz said...

Loved Full Monty! "You Sexy Thing" will forever be at the top of my workout playlist.

Calendar Girls? (teeth on edge)

To me, the difference has more to do with that funny phrase "The personal is political." (full teeth grinding). The men (and women) of Full Monty were truly underdogs. They may be down but not out for the count -- their pride remains. The women of Calendar Girls, well, not; these women are clinging on to privilege -- in the form of conventional/normative notions of beauty.

Favorite other "Full Monty" ending? "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"

cs harris said...

Sisker, I haven't seen Never Been Kissed, but I'll put it on my Netflix list. I'm wondering if it's easier to have a great Full Monty Moment with a warmhearted comedy?

Paz, good observation on Calendar Girls. They didn't have the driving force of the guys in the Full Monty; nothing was really at stake if they didn't get the calendar off the ground (except a sofa). Of course, once they'd posed, they had something at stake, but by then the movie had flipped into a different tale entirely. I haven't seen "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," either. Obviously I have some movie-watching to do.

Charles Gramlich said...

hum, great way of thinking about it. I hope the end to "under the ember star" has some of those qualities

Unknown said...

great post and has set me thinking.
lx

cs harris said...

Charles, I'm looking forward to reading this new piece. And I'm thinking Full Monty Moments would be a good topic for a Monday night meeting (only not this coming Monday because I'm not going to be there).

Liz, I'm thinking it would be worth trying to identify other movies or books with this kind of moment.

Judith Starkston said...

Interesting post. I'm at the very beginning of a new plot and I like this way of thinking about endings. Hmmm, now I'll have to see if I can come up with a Full Monty. No chance of naked steel workers in 13th century BC Anatolia! Thanks for the good writing thoughts.

Steve Malley said...

Seems of me there's heaps of thrillers and actioners that go out on a BIG MOMENT. Bad guys explode/shred in a hail of bullets/fall into vat of acid/whatever, guy kisses girl and roll credits.

Same with those 80s teen movies: Soon as you've kissed Molly Ringwald it's done.

Like they say, the beginning's where you sell the book in your hand now. The end is where you sell everything else you've written. If you've got a story with One Big Question (will they defuse the bomb, will he kiss her, will they actually take it ALL off), and you've done the rest of your work well, the answer to that question pretty much ends your story.

Yeah, denouments happen. I certainly use them. But my personal theory is, the more central the Big Question is to your story, the less denoument you need.

I care less about St Cyr catching the killer than I do about how his life changes in the book, so I want a little time at the end to see how he's different. Molly Ringwald's characters, not so much. It's enough that she finds out the guy likes her- we can roll credits on their kiss.

I think what makes the end of The Full Monty so brilliant is that every one of the guys has his own subplot, his own victory conditions for the story. And for each and every one of them, getting their kit off on stage is victory. The minute they throw their hats, we're done!

And good thing too-- imagine if the camera stuck around after, too enamored of the characters to let go. I suspect their lives after that one brilliant night would rather disappoint...

Judith Starkston said...

Steve--good point about wanting to see what's happened in St. Cyr's life, how he's changed. Isn't it interesting that with a book that's all plot the Big Bang at the end is sufficient but with complicated characters maybe there's a quiet follow up that we care just as much about.

cs harris said...

Judith, I'm holding this in mind myself. It's a very useful reminder.

Steve, you're so right. I recently read a "book club book" that was a gentle, English-countryside, old-folks-fall-in-love story, and the author totally spoiled it by thinking she had to tack on a dangerous, action ending when what she needed was showing us the protagonist making a choice vis a vis the dilemma he'd been facing all through the book. I will never read another one of her books.

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