Steven Soderbourgh's made a movie that really seems to get the joy of male stripping. The scenes that are the movie's reason for being are well shot, well lit, well-choreographed, and get at the joy and pure giddiness that both the guys feel performing and the naughty fun  the women in the audience feel watching them. They're the centerpieces of the film and those scenes really pop and bring the movie to life. It’s unfortunate that much that's in between those scenes feels like so much filler meant to beef up the film's dramatic quotient so that it’s not just seen as that male stripper movie.  

In the film, Alec Pettyfer plays Adam, a college-dropout who's staying with his older sister Brooke (Cody Horn) until he can figure out what he wants to do with his life. After getting hired for a construction job, he's soon taken under the wing of Mike (Channing Tatum), a fellow roof tiler who spends his nights dancing in Tampa's Xquisite nightclub as a stripper. After a night of partying, Adam is soon recruited to join Mike and his colleagues Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Tito (Adam Rodriguez), Ken (Matt Bomer) and Tarzan (Kevin Nash) to perform sexy strip routines at the club.  And soon enough, he's immersed in a world full of drugs, sex, women and alcohol. Mike on the other hand, craves for more despite making a profitable income as a stripper.

 

As it turns out, Magic Mike is less about the stripping and more about the lifestyles of male strippers. Inspired by Tatum's own experiences as a young stripper in Florida, the script balances between humor and drama while capturing the repercussions and challenges that come with the profession (i.e. drugs, self-destruction and vanity).

 

Acting wise, the one who steals the show is Mathew McConaughey, who perfectly and hilariously portrays the sleazy, skin-tight-leather-wearing Dallas, the aging club owner.. Tatum and Pettyfer on the other hand, hold their own despite sounding a bit rigid and unnatural at times. And  Horn is well-casted for the role of Adam's concerned sister Brooke and the romantic interest for Mike.

 

Clark