From Brit Grit to Hollywood Musical

The Scene: Tuesday’s premiere of Fox Searchlight’s “The Full Monty” at the Festival theater in Westwood. The British comedy chronicles a gang of unemployed male steelworkers who form a blue-collar bump-and-grind revue. To get the picture, imagine Norm on “Cheers” with a Yorkshire accent strutting at Chippendale’s.

The Good News: This is a much better film than Demi Moore’s “Striptease.”

The Bad News: Demi Moore looks much better with her clothes off. Are gyms illegal in Britain?

Who Was There: The film’s director, Peter Cattaneo, co-stars Mark Addy, Paul Barber and William Snape, producer Uberto Passolini, plus 500 guests including Anthony Edwards, Alex Kingston, Debi Mazar, Clarissa Richardson, Nick Reed, Des McAnuff, David Permut, Amanda Davis and studio execs Bill Mechanic, Lindsay Law and Claudia Lewis.

The Buzz: One guest said, “What I like is, it’s an art film that’s raunchy.” It was definitely of the small, endearing film genre Hollywood loves to watch, but doesn’t always love to finance. Some savants thought it could do good box office. After all, it’s not as though the market is flooded with British male stripper movies.

Dress Mode: Casual. One sure sign you’re at an indie premiere is if one of the stars is wearing a T-shirt and shorts.

Quoted: “It’s about a group of guys, down on their luck, who prove if you stick together and stick by your dreams, you can get what you want,” said director Cattaneo. “The film does this weird metamorphosis from a gritty / grungy British movie to the end where it’s this Hollywood musical.”

The After Party: What could be more appropriate than the nearby Monty’s Steakhouse? The penthouse restaurant has a Chasen’s-like retro ambience, but with a different history. As an example, this is where ex-UCLA basketball coach Jim Harrick had the ill-advised $1,085 recruiting dinner that led to his own unemployment.

Bright Ideas: There had been an effort to change the restaurant’s highly visible, 21st-floor sign to “The Full Monty’s” for the premiere. Permit problems made it impossible. “I think it would have been easier to change the Hollywood sign,” said one studio exec.