When it was first announced that Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey were going to be playing half-naked strippers in Steven Soderbergh Magic Mike, woman (and plenty of men) across the country felt like their heads were going to explode from all of the excitement and nakedness. Tatum stars as the titular character Mike, a stripper who takes young drifter Adam (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing. Working with manager Dallas (McConaughey), the strip troupe teaches Adam everything they know, while Mike yearns to kick-start his lifes passion a one-of-a-kind furnishings company and quit the business altogether. While the film itself is more of a semi-drama, the advertising for the film made it seem as if audiences were in store for nothing less than two hours of male nakedness. And while there are indeed scenes featuring the film's stars taking it all off, the film is actually about more than that. Without the sure-handed direction of Soderbergh, theres a good chance that Magic Mike could have been the male equivalent of Showgirls. Instead, it managed to be a surprisingly artful, well-acted tale of one mans attempts to make a life for himself, while inserting plenty of crotch thrusting males for the ladies who went to see it in droves.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
