Twenty-five years ago, Sheffield was one of Great Britain’s most prosperous steel and manufacturing cities. Now it’s a run-down city full of closed factories and unemployed men.

That’s the set up of “The Full Monty,” a very funny and very touching new movie. The title is a British reference for, well … a man’s best friend. (And I don’t mean his dog.)

Robert Carlyle, who was Begbie in “Trainspotting,” plays Gaz, an unemployed guy with money problems. If he can’t come up with the back child support, his ex-wife won’t let him see their son, Nat, anymore.

What can Gaz do? He loves his son but he owes a lot of money, and jobs in Sheffield are either nonexistent or low-paying and degrading.

He then has an inspirational visitation from … Chippendales. Yes, the Chippendale dancers come to perform, attracting the attention and money of all the town’s women. Gaz decides he wants a piece of that action.

So he and his best friend, Dave, (Mark Addy) do the only thing men who are unemployed and need money can do: they decide to strip, but with a catch. Rather than just stripping down to a g-string, they’ll go all the way — the full monty.

Through a series of hilarious try-outs, the strippers are selected. One is a suicidal night watchman, another is an older man with a bad hip and there’s a really dumb guy (named Guy) with one really big advantage.

For the most part, these are guys you wouldn’t necessarily want to see naked, especially if you had to pay for it.

They’ve got two weeks to become a cohesive unit, to learn to shake their money-makers — well, to at least learn to shake them in sync and with the beat.

“The Full Monty” is what is often called a “small” movie. In other words, there are no big explosions or computer-generated dinosaurs or Bat planes. Small movies depend on good characters, writing and little moments.

One of my favorite moments in the movie occurs when the guys are watching “Flashdance” for some vocational dancing tips.

All Dave can do is critique the dancer’s welding style.

And, while standing in line at the job center, the guys can’t help getting down to the Donna Summer music playing on the radio.

The movie is absolutely hilarious at times, but also has a very human side. Take the character, Dave, for instance. Dave isn’t sure about the idea of stripping, because he has a body like the Pillsbury Doughboy’s, only with body hair.

He’s so self-conscious about his appearance it is affecting his whole life, from his ability to find a job to his relationship with his wife. Addy’s performance as Dave is probably the best in a movie full of good performances.

He really made me empathize with his character’s high points and low points.

On show night, the guys are ready. But will they have the balls (no pun intended) to go all the way? (OK— the pun was entirely intended.)

They’re stripping for a reason — to pay the bills. But for each one, the stripping means something more. For Gaz, his son is at stake. Dave’s pride and self-image are on the line.

The final, climactic scene is, of course, the big show. The scene is an absolute riot, largely because you can tell the guys are having a ball (bad pun number two.)

“The Full Monty” is the perfect mix of humor and humanity. I laughed a lot during the movie, but I also really came to care about these characters.

You may be asking yourself, “Well, do they go all the way?” All I can say is, get your mind out of the gutter.

5 stars out of five.

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Mike Milik is a senior in advertising from West Des Moines.