Directed by:
Steven SoderberghScreenplay:
Reid CarolinCinematography:
Steven SoderberghCast:
Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Olivia Munn, Betsy Brandt, Mircea Monroe, Riley Keough, Adam Rodriguez (more)VOD (1)
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Ladies! Get ready for the most fun you can have with a Blu-ray player! Channing Tatum sizzles as the irresistible Magic Mike - the shining star act in 'Xquisite' - a steamy men's dance show. Along with his mentor, Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), Mike takes young dancer 'Kid' (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing to school him in the fine arts of partying, picking up women and making easy money! From director Steven Soderbergh, Magic Mike is a hedonistic thrill-ride jam-packed with stunning moves, shimmering six-packs and the kind of relentless entertainment guaranteed to satisfy! (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (11)
A mission in life to some, survival to others. I get that Channing Tatum wouldn’t agree with me, but I really shouldn’t have watched this. When a bunch of guys shake their bods in front of the screen for two whole hours, you wouldn’t want to see it either. And the array of women who appear in the movie definitely won’t salvage it by their beauty. However, I acknowledge and respect the fact that Channing managed to get himself out of this sort of job. I also acknowledge his and Matt’s great acting performances. But everything else was a miss for me.
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Channing Tatum produced an “independent relationship drama” that showed him in a more mature light. Dialog that is uncontrived and sober, so much so in places that a few conversational gambits would not have hurt. Two fantastic filmmaking moments – the camera play in the opening scene (two girls in Tatum’s bed) and a later scene with a cut from a cell phone (dialing a girl) to a couple, already lying and hugging on the bed. But the rest of it is rather boring, with a tedious performance by the lead actor, who was supposed to keep it afloat.
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On the glittering surface, Soderbergh adores the strippers, while on the inside he laughs at their transference of existential experience into beautiful bodies and powerful experiences. Probably. He doesn’t lead us to a single, unambiguous reading of Magic Mike, so it’s not a problem to see it as being akin to Flashdance (and other dance-themed ‘80s hits), given its story about a poor, not very bright guy who whose handsome face and simulation of sexual movements brought him wealth, fame and drugs. In various imaginative ways, however, the film makes it clear that this is not a typical rise-to-stardom story. The appealing striptease performances, pumped up with loud music and lighting effects, contrast with the simplest possible dialogue scenes devoid of music and camera tricks (long shots, a static camera, a lively and occasionally funny mise-en-scéne). The dialogue, which is more important in terms of its content than as means of expression for the characters, was either superbly written and acted or at least partially improvised. The hesitations, pauses, slips of the tongue, shy glances and bashful gestures transport us back from the flawless world of pumped-up penises and fake police uniforms to awkwardly natural reality. Thanks to his previous experience, Channing Tatum clearly knew best how to depict a man whose exhibitionism gives him a false sense of control, but those whom he thinks are under his control (Alex Pettyfer) or whose uncontrollability leads him to confront his own “emptiness” (Cody Horn) are no less authentic. In the most straightforward sense of the word, the star of the evening is Matthew McConaughey, the personification of the word “macho”, who was finally offered a role requiring nothing more than what he has built his entire acting career on – tough-guy talk and an ostentatious exhibition of his abdominal muscles. Bare male bodies appear frequently in the film, in lengthy shots and – with one exception – without liberating cuts to the face of someone who finds such behaviour inappropriate. I would venture to guess that these scenes will seem unnecessary especially to the men in the audience, which may have been a marketing tactic (the ideal film for a girls’ night out), as well as the director’s attack on the male gaze, on the unwritten rule that calls for much more frequently exposing the bodies of women, whose nudity is conversely presented here without any sensationalism. The constant duplicity and endless uncertainty of whose side Soderbergh is on do not in any way disturb the film’s cohesiveness (which is rather disrupted by a few needless camera exhibitions with an image with qualities other than those of sunny California) and create a peculiar tension behind a story that is seemingly so simple and smooth that it could easily slip by less attentive viewers. The excitement that the film provides is not only sensual (regardless of your preferences), but also cinephilic. 80%
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Classic Soderbergh, raw like in Traffic and very authentic within the genre, with fascinating sections without music, brilliant off the charts dialogues, and yellowish, depressive camera filters. It is essentially a romantic comedy with some harder scenes, but Soderbergh manages to wrap simplicity into a splendid package. Some sections could be shortened (too tedious and uninteresting for male audiences), but otherwise, it is a quality addition. Brilliant performances, especially by McConaughey and Tatum.
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For me, perhaps an overly hated film. Magic Mike is a classic old-school comedy, simple, but at the same time it manages to put a smile on your lips and even entertain you at times. Ordinary and unremarkable in terms of execution, but certainly original and funny in terms of the premise, led by the likeable Tatum Channing. A fine diversion for an evening.
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Gallery (71)
Photo © Warner Bros. Pictures / Claudette Barius, Glen Wilson
![Magic Mike - Photos - Channing Tatum, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/018/804/18804553_48fbf0.jpg)
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