I Saw "Magic Mike"

"Magic Mike" is a male stripper movie. Just think about that for a minute. This is not a movie where the stripping is played for laughs. And it's not a movie about amateur wannabes, like "The Full Monty." This is film that is intimately concerned with the business and lifestyle of professional male exotic dancing, and presents an open invitation to ogle the masculine form for 110 minutes. To my knowledge, we've never had something like this before at the multiplex, at least nothing this high profile with so much marquee talent. In addition to Channing Tatum as the title character, we also have up-and-comers Alex Pettyfer and Matt Bomer, with a big assist by Matthew McConaughey, who nearly steals the whole show. There is no question that the film is aimed at women, not only because of the blatant objectification of the men, but because when you get down to brass tacks, "Magic Mike" is a traditional romantic melodrama.

Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) dreams of starting his own custom furniture business, and juggles a variety of different jobs and businesses to raise the money. This includes stripping at a Tampa night spot, under the stage name Magic Mike, in a show run by his friend Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). At one of his day jobs, Mike comes upon a down-on-his-luck youngster named Adam (Alex Pettyfer), befriends him, and soon Adam is also taking the stage as The Kid. Adam's older sister Brooke (Cody Horn) isn't thrilled with her brother's new profession or with Mike, but they slowly become more friendly. Mike promises to look out for The Kid, but the lifestyle is starting to wear on him. Dallas is planning to move the show to Miami, and Mike's usual partner in sexual misadventures, Joanna (Olivia Munn), isn't interested in being anything more. And all too soon, the Kid lands them both in serious trouble.

Let's get the warnings out of the way first. "Magic Mike" shows a lot of skin, both male and female, but it stops short of full frontal nudity. There's some sex, but not graphic sex, plus some drug use, mild drunkenness, occasional brawling, and profanity in abundance. There are a few topless women in the mix with impressive assets, but the focus remains firmly on the male cast, who have equally impressive assets. I saw nothing that an open-minded male viewer would be too uncomfortable with, but your mileage will certainly vary. The male stripteases were never portrayed as demeaning, but as fun and empowering, with a lot of side benefits. The seedier side of the business, though alluded to, is mostly kept offscreen. Instead, the trouble comes from getting too comfortable with a crowd that seems to be having an endless party, and getting mixed up with easy money, bad influences, and forgetting about the consequences.

The one name to keep in mind here is not any of the sexy leading men, but the guy behind the camera: Steven Sodebergh. Yes, it's the king of indie cinema who is responsible for "Magic Mike," and who ensures that it's more than just campy, weightless fluff, like "Burlesque" or "Showgirls." We get to see plenty of the strip show (and what a strip show!) but audiences might be surprised at the amount of time Soderbergh takes to introduce the characters, establish that they're average, everyday people, and chart the course of their relationships. These relationships are played absolutely straight, grounding all the excess of Mike's hard partying social life and the over-the-top nature of his antics on stage. "Magic Mike" isn't nearly as ambitious or expansive as something like "Boogie Nights," but it does take itself fairly seriously. The plot isn't just there to fill in time between the setpiece, and some of Soderbergh's typically gorgeous, intimate shots should turn the head of any pretentious cinema geek.

Tatum's perfectly cast as the lead, and of course he is - the film is based on his own stint as a stripper, and the character is perfectly tailored toward his own strengths as an actor and a dancer. He's phenomenal on the stage, and not bad at all when he's off it. I've heard a few complaints about Cody Horn as his "uptight" love interest, but she stuck me a s a very canny choice. Horn has a different energy than anyone else onscreen, and she 's a great match for Tatum, actually making him come across as more charismatic and articulate. Then there's Matthew McConaughey, who takes the role of emcee and carnival barker and just runs with it. He has more personality than everyone else in the cast put together, nails every line delivery, and when it's finally his turn to go out on stage, you wonder why he ever left.

"Magic Mike" is a great time and a pretty decent movie too. I'm impressed with the way that it tackled the unlikely subject matter, and tackled it so wholeheartedly, without resorting to any of the usual clichés. I wouldn't be surprised if "Magic Mike" inspires a new subgenre, the male stripper rom-com. Alas, without Soderbergh, it'll probably be more beefcake than beef from here on out. Not that there's anything wrong with beefcake. Nothing wrong at all.

---