Review #828: 'Magic Mike' (2012)

Magic Mike opens in a bright but subtly sleazy nightclub, with Matthew McConaughey's (following his dark turn in 2011's Killer Joe and continuing his recent career renaissance) strip-club owner Dallas, dressed in leather and a cowboy hat, stroking his private area and asking the ladies in the audience "can you touch this? No, no, no, no." But Magic Mike, loosely based on lead actor Channing Tatum's experiences as a stripper aged 18, shows that the ladies certainly can touch it, giving us a fascinating and slightly intoxicating insight into a male fantasy life, warts and all, and the lack of substance that comes with it.

Dallas's main attraction at his Xquisite Strip Club is 'Magic' Mike Lane (Tatum), who when he is not packing the club with screaming ladies, has threesome's with his kind-of girlfriend Joanna (Olivia Munn) and takes construction work to help fund his entrepreneurial aspirations. He meets college drop-out Adam (Alex Pettyfer) and calls in a favour after he helps Adam into a club one night, promising him paid work if he helps backstage while the men perform on it. Mike and Dallas eventually throw him on stage, and the ladies love him. But Adam has his demons, and his sister Brooke (Cody Horn), makes Mike promise to look out for him.

Although the film is primarily about Mike, the first third of the film mainly focuses on Adam, giving us a wide-eyed view-point into this seductive world of admiring women, endless parties, and all the uppers you could pray for. Mike seems custom made for this world and he embraces the g-strings, body oil, and all the superficialities that come with the job. But as he witnesses Adam's head-first plunge into self-destruction, he begins to wonder if the benefits of the job outweigh the ultimate cost. Director Steven Soderbergh manages to capture these moments with a sickly sordidness.

It also has a brighter side, with Tatum once again bringing a likeability to the all-American jock type. It's the first male stripper film since The Full Monty (1997) of any note, and the strip scenes are infused with an energy and a playfulness that is funny without mocking the industry. The dance routines are increasingly ridiculous, one in which has 'Big Dick' Richie (True Blood's Joe Manganiello) end his routine with the unveiling of his not-so-secret weapon, and Tatum busting some genuinely impressive moves. The romance that develops between Mike and Brooke is predictable but sweet, mainly thanks to Horn's performance, and it's about 20 minutes too long, but ultimately Magic Mike is an engaging and sometimes unconventional experience.


Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Matthew McConaughey, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie