Purely because I really should have to begin with and didn’t think too – here is a little gallery of Magic Mike for your viewing pleasure 😀 (I figure if I just posted a dozen pictures of cupcakes, the next logical step is to give you men you want to eat them off of… :P) (If you’re asking yourself if I’m joking or not – if you laughed it’s a joke, if you didn’t, I’m serious :D)
All expectation go straight out the window when you see “MAGIC MIKE”.
The idea is simple. Based on the real life adventures of a young Channing Tatum (who produces and stars as the movie’s pseudonym namesake “Magic” Mike), this comedy-drama saunters down the path of 19 year old Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a college drop-out who moves to Tampa. Adam ends up as a male stripper at club Xquisite, owned by stripping veteran Dallas (Matthew McConaughy), drawn in as a favour to Mike. The three months to come are filled with partying, drugs and sex, as Adam commits to the excessive lifestyle of the Xquisite dancers with 30 year old Mike as his guide.
From there a loose train of thought is maintained; we are shown Mike’s deeper side, his unhappiness with his current “career” (because apparently being half naked and professionally good-looking was becoming a chore and undignified…) and his ambitions to break out of his leather thong and start a custom furniture business; eventually segueing into something darker to do with an ill advised drug deal going wrong for Adam (as if drug deals were ever a good idea, of course…)
When it was over, my friend turned to me, half laughing and said, “So, what did you think of the plot?” to which I replied “what plot?”. Not even joking.
But don’t let that put you off. This may be one of the only times in my life I ever say this, but: It totally didn’t need one. And so it went without one. And that absolutely worked!
In reality, the story comes across something like this:
Strippers!… Six-pack… Oh look, that guy from Step Up/The Eagle/21 Jump Street/Dear John… Multiple Six-packs… Alex Pettyfer!! Finally he’s not a child anymore, it’s ok to stare… cool coffee table… STRIPPERS… strippers… strippers…
And so it continues. And if anyone tells you that’s not what they were thinking – they are lying!
Featuring an excellent selection of highly oiled and curiously hairless sex-machines *ahem* exotic dancers 😉 a pair of ass-less chaps, and much hip gyration, as well as a surprisingly serious minor role for comedian Gabriel Iglesias as DJ-come-drug-dealer Tobias, there is no doubt that this movie is meant to cater more or less solely to women and gay men.
And I assure you; it does not disappoint.
Darkened club scenes are interspersed with what I defined in my mind as “day time scenes – when no-one is naked :(” which show sporadic happenings of life outside the penis pump world of male stripping (that’s right- what? You thought it was really that big??). These have an almost behind-the-scenes like charm. Trips to the beach and afternoons at the promenade are shot mostly at head height with imperfect frames, documentary style. It adds an element of intimacy, befitting of the theme, as if you are part of the action rather than just salivating- I mean, looking, at them…
Let me ask this question: Yes, most of these characters are of the work-by-night variety, but does no-one except Adam’s sister have a real job!? (she, by the way, conveniently for the “plot” often works night-shift) You watch and tell me! Forget about Mike, he apparently has about eighteen jobs so doesn’t count – it doesn’t count if you have all the jobs! That’s just greedy! 😛
I wouldn’t recommend you drag/con your boyfriend into seeing this with a logical argument:
YOU: “it’s about strippers!”
HIM: “yes, honey, but they’re men”
YOU: “…but they’re strippers!”
HIM: “no!”
YOU: “…do you want to sleep on the couch or in the porch on the dogs bed – because he’ll be having yours tonight!” = not such a good plan.
The perfectly chiselled homage’s to David who strut near naked during most of this film will only make him run away and cry: he is unlikely to have the abs of Alex Pettyfer, the arms of Channing Tatum, the bum of Joe Manganiello or the roguish grin of Matthew McConaughy. If he does – well done you and may I say congratulations! 😀
So I recommend gathering the girl-friends and leaving your man to cry over his framed photo of his man-crush – you have a new date now, with some of the most Xquisite men you will ever come across.
While the plot is thinner than a velcro jockstrap, there is no doubting its entertainment value. Believable characters, unbelievably attractive men and laugh-out-loud moments make this dirty little bit of fun a guilt free way to oogle forbidden fruit and have a giggle about it.
Ladies, I recommend!
7 ½ / 10
SSDD
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