Magic Mike MOVIE REVIEW

We get more than just a movie about male strippers, we get a surprisingly good movie with Tatum at his best.

In Magic Mike, Mike (Channing Tatum) works as a construction worker during the days and a stripper three nights a week while saving up money so he can eventually start his own business doing what he loves, building furniture  While at his construction job, he meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a good looking 19 year old, and decides to bring Adam along to the strip club where he works.  During the show, one of the strippers becomes incapacitated, leaving the boss, Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), with no one left to fill the spot.  Mike grabs Adam and throws him on stage to see how he does.  Adam, who is obviously embarrassed, starts undressing and becomes a hit with the ladies in the crowd, because they think his shyness is all an act.  After the show, Dallas wants Adam to join the group.  Mike and Adam become friends outside of work which leads to Mike meeting and falling for Adam's sister Brooke (Cody Horn).  As Mike tries to get out of the stripping business and pursue his dreams, Adam gets drawn in more and more, as he eventually begins going downhill.

This movie is a drama, but does have a fair share of comedy when the guys are all together.  And I admit, in the beginning the strip scenes are a bit much (at least for us guys), but as the movie continues we get less and less of actual stripping and more story.  I felt the choreography was pretty good for the most part, but it did look like Tatum looked more comfortable than any of the other guys.  While the other three strippers (played by Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Kevin Nash) are all decent, Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer are both much better in their roles.  But I have to say that Channing Tatum is by far the standout and is the best we have ever seen him.  And while that isn't saying a whole lot, I have to give him credit here.  This year he has had two good movies and has definitely grown as an actor.  One of the best things about the movie that I liked though, was that the dialogue had a raw feel to it.  It didn't come of as reading lines from a script, but had more of a documentary realness to it, which I absolutely loved.  Steven Soderbergh did a great job directing, which helped make this movie about male strippers into something worth watching.

...AND SIMPLY PUT DON'T JUDGE SEE FOR YOURSELF HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. B+


Cast: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Matthew Bomer, Riley Keough, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, Gabriel Iglesias
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Rating: R for pervasive sexual content, brief graphic nudity, language and some drug use
Magic Mike is Now Available on BLU-RAY and DVD.