One of the chief joys about that wonderful film, The Full Monty, was that it portrayed a group of unemployed men who decided to stop waiting for jobs to fall into their laps, and tried something new. And not only that, they had a laugh in doing so, despite all the poignant sub-plots involving ex-wives, present wives, elderly mothers and sons.
Palookaville (World, 9.30pm) has something of the same charm, since it too is about a group of 'self-unemployed' guys, this time from Palookaville, New Jersey, rather than from Sheffield.
They seem, on the surface, to be complete losers. And yet, underneath, once they find something new to do with their lives it turns out that . . . well, that they are complete losers.
But they are never pathetic and that is why another film about the long-term unemployed, which is not really an amusing subject at all, is funny without being cruel.
Our heroes have been loafing around driving away former spouses, irritating in-laws, and infuriating present wives for some time when one of them hits on the brilliant scheme of stealing money, rather than earning it.
Unfortunately, none of them has the stomach or the brains to steal anything more than a load of doughnuts when they accidentally break into a bakery, rather than the bank as planned.
