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MAGIC MIKE |
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Chick Flick.
I thought I would get that out of the way immediately in case you thought that a film about male strippers starring Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey had any profound substance. No, it's a movie about guys who strip for women.
It opens with McConaughey, flexing in a black leather vest on a stage and it closes with McConaughey stripping on a stage. About half of the film has the guys in some for of undress either stripping for the crowd or making out with their personal women.
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Oh sure, there is a fairly weak story about one of the strippers, Mike (Tatum) who wants more out of life especially after he recruits a young 19-year old to join the show.
Adam (Alex Pettyfer from "Beastly" and "I Am Number Four") has just been fired as a roofer on Mike's construction crew. He's a loose canon, but with a decent physique, so Mike brings him to the "other" job... as male stripper in a Tampa Florida Club Xquisite. Though he has no experience,
he is put on stage after one of the regular guys passes out from drugs. Adam is an immediate success, especially with the young sorority girls.
It turns out Adam has a straight laced sister - Brooke(Cody Horn) - who is the polar opposite. Natch Mike immediately takes a liking to her while promising to watch out for her little brother.
Meanwhile Dallas (McConaughey) is working on a deal to move the troupe to a megaclub in Miami where they will make big-time money. However Mike, has plans to start his own custom furniture business that doesn't stand a chance.
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Somewhere along the line, Adam gets caught up in drugs (again...natch) and a mild fight breaks out with him getting into trouble with the proverbial wrong people. Mike's bi-sexual girlfriend Joanna (Olivia Munn) turns out to already have a fiance and...
Okay, enough already!
Steven Soderbergh's attempt to give this film more substance fails as much as his same attempt with "Full Frontal" in 2002. And just like "Full Frontal" the attempts work to detract from the film rather than add to it.
It also seemed like there was almost an attempt to borrow from "American Gigolo", but maybe that was my imagination. Possibly a small improvement on "Showgirls? Eh!
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The film benefits from Channing's real-life experience as a male stripper and McConaughey's ability to ham-it-up for the screen. Horn and Pettyfer didn't meld well with the rest of the cast, and maybe that was by design, or maybe a clue they need more experience.
"Magic Mike" provides a clear, unabashed look into the business of male strippers. Uh, no... it's really just a chick flick!
-- GEOFF BURTON |
GEOFF BURTON |
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COPYRIGHT 2012 BY AFROTREK TRAVEL NEWS LLC |
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