{"id":2320,"date":"2012-07-06T12:20:27","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T19:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com.php5-21.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/wordpress\/?p=2320"},"modified":"2012-07-06T14:33:05","modified_gmt":"2012-07-06T21:33:05","slug":"magic-mike-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/magic-mike-review\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

Like any red-blooded American gay homosexual sodomite, I\u2019ve been looking forward to the new Steve Soderberg film Magic Mike<\/em><\/strong> for some time.\u00a0 The filmmakers have used flashy beefcake images to sell the movie for over a year now, and I have to say that, unlike movies with names like Thor<\/em><\/strong>, the filmmakers play fair on that score:\u00a0 You do see a lot of shiny, handsome, buff guys bumping and grinding in this movie.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Major Thespian! (really!!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I actually have less to say about the movie itself than I do about the cast.\u00a0 So let\u2019s dispense with the movie stuff first:<\/p>\n

Magic Mike <\/em><\/strong>is very lite<\/em> entertainment, done professionally well by a good director, decent screenwriters and good actors. \u00a0There\u2019s nothing inspired about any of it, but it doesn\u2019t sink into stupidity, either, which is a definite possibility in a movie about male strippers in Tampa.<\/p>\n

My Channing Tatum stars as an ambitious thirty-year old lunk named Mike who is saving up for his dream \u2013 a custom furniture crafting business \u2013 by working as a roofer, bookkeeper, car detailer, and stripper.\u00a0 When he meets a hangdog but cute and buff nineteen-year-old loser (Alex Pettyfer), he unwisely brings him into his cheesy world of spangled jockstraps, drug dealers and giddy, dangerous women.\u00a0 Possible romance (with the loser\u2019s sister) and mild misadventures ensue.<\/p>\n

Nothing in the movie feels particularly important; the stakes are all there, but feel a bit like Senior Class Play stakes rather than the real thing.\u00a0 And that\u2019s okay.\u00a0 After all, did I mention this is a movie about male strippers in Tampa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s talk about the cast.<\/p>\n

First of all, Matthew McConaughey.\u00a0 He gives it his best shot at Dallas, the Tampa strip club entrepreneur with dreams of moving his act to Miami.\u00a0 His role is a little bit like Tom Cruise\u2019s in Jerry McGuire<\/em><\/strong>:\u00a0 the character plays to all of his strengths and<\/em>weaknesses, so that even the things that may generally annoy you about the star really work as this sleazy, aging yet still ridiculously buff hustler.\u00a0 It\u2019s not quite Oh God Please Give Me My Overdue Oscar Nomination Acting, but it\u2019s close.\u00a0 I\u2019m not a particular fan of the man, but he\u2019s a professional, and he brings it here, even acquitting himself well in his one big strip scene.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ask me about Stanislavsky's Acting Method as I grind my crotch into your face.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, I\u2019m quite puzzled by the presence of Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello in \u201csupporting\u201d roles as two of the other strippers at the club.\u00a0 Puzzled because they have absolutely nothing to play.\u00a0 I can see why the filmmakers wanted them in the movie:\u00a0 they certainly add marquee value.\u00a0 But they seriously need new agents.\u00a0 Because they should have only agreed to bare their asses in the picture if the screenwriters and the director guaranteed that they\u2019d actually have roles to play.\u00a0 As it is, they\u2019re glorified extras.\u00a0 They barely have lines.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost distracting.\u00a0 Manganiello and Bomer are both good actors with thriving television careers, and they should have demanded more high-quality involvement in the movie.\u00a0 Or passed.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Pettyfer, as the kid, is his usual pretty self.\u00a0 He needs to work much harder to hide his British accent, though.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Crikey! I should have spent less time working out and more time with the dialog coach!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was happy to see Gabriel Iglesias in the movie.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been impressed by him ever since he appeared on (and was thrown off of ) \u201cLast Comic Standing\u201d in 2006.<\/p>\n

Now to the women.\u00a0 I really rather enjoyed Olivia Munn, an actress\/module I am most familiar with for her former hosting duties on G4\u2019s \u201cAttack of the Show!\u201d\u00a0 She\u2019s good as Mike\u2019s bisexual booty call buddy.<\/p>\n

As to Cody Horn as Mike\u2019s love interest, well\u2026 I\u2019m afraid that considering her very thin resume coupled with the fact that her father is Alan F. Horn, former head of Warner Brothers Studios and current chairman of Walt Disney Studios, my only reaction is \u201cwell isn\u2019t that special, she got to star in a movie!!\u201d\u00a0 For her next project, she might consider expanding her emotional range past the Pretty Pout.\u00a0 And to Soderberg:\u00a0 I hope the favor you\u2019re putting in the bank in return for hiring her turns out to be worth it.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Watch me go through the full range of emotions from A to B.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, the movie\u2019s star, Channing Tatum.\u00a0 This is my Channing\u2019s fourth major release this year, and here\u2019s the thing:\u00a0 He\u2019s been quite good in all of them<\/em>.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t all blockbusters, certainly, but then, his only movies that make big money seem to be the ones based on cheesy 80\u2019s properties (21 Jump Street, G.I. Joe<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tatum has great looks and solid movie star charisma.\u00a0 He\u2019s also an indecently good street dancer for a white boy, and he acutally is<\/em> a former stripper, so his moves in Magic Mike<\/em><\/strong> are unassailable.\u00a0 His acting agility is convincing and effective, as well.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is, anyone who makes fun of Channing Tatum at this point in his career is stupid and wrong.<\/p>\n

So:\u00a0 Can I recommend Magic Mike<\/em><\/strong>?\u00a0 Depends on how much you want to watch legitimate actors impersonate slimy male strippers.\u00a0 If that does it for you, then get thee to the theater.\u00a0 If not, well, you might be better off catching Moonrise Kingdom<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Average Rating: 4.8<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 163<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

\n