Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer and Cody Horn. Magic Mike, follows the story of 'Mike' a male stripper who teaches a younger performer how to party, pick up women and make easy money.
In a summer of films dominated by action and violence, very much targeted at a male audience, there seemed to be a lack of femininity within the films of 2012. Until now. At first glance, Magic Mike is very much a 'girly flick' orientated around male strippers, aiming to be as flirtatious as possible. However, at the heart of this film, is a much more realistic and relateable storyline about a man who wants to be taken seriously in order to live out his lifetime dream.
Despite the simplistic, dull and obvious initial plot, as this film progresses so does the film's realism and complexity, beginning as simply a film about strippers and ending about something much more. This is done brilliantly well, due mainly to terrific performances conveying perfectly the feelings and lives of normal strippers. Towards the end of the film I found myself oddly attached to the majority of characters from the protagonist 'Mike' to his fellow co-strippers! Perhaps the best performance in this film belongs to either Matthew McConaughey or Alex Pettyfer, who both portrayed their characters perfectly, with McConaughey providing an all too enticing yet intimidating performance and Pettyfer who displayed a brilliant understanding of his irresponsible character.
The main triumph within this film, is it's ability to 'tend to the needs' of all audience members. The prominent plot line of male strippers, is never analysed to the point where it becomes uncomfortable, yet neither is it just brushed on. The perfect balance of weirdly enjoyable 'stripping shows' and heart-felt story is achieved, making it bearable for the majority of male viewers! Furthermore the worries I had within the stripping scenes, were immediatly quelled. Expecting all too 'seedy' scenes of pure embarresment yet actually recieving something a lot different. The scenes were so 'over the top' and kitsch that it was surpisingly funny and entertaining.The stripping never really went into too much detail, instead what was displyed was a plethera of thrilling dance-numbers and 'caberet-esque' performances.
Although I did, for the most part, find Magic Mike a wierdly enjoyable time, there were some aspects of the film I really disliked, one aspect comes in the form of the script.
Within almost every 'chick-flick' a poor display of dialouge is put on show, and although I wouldn't catorgorise Magic Mike as such a film, it's dialouge is just as bad. It was a shame to see that in a film of such realism among characters, the words that came out their mouths were just totally contrived. The worst example of dialouge materializes out of nowhere when they're in the water, and as they emerge 'Adam' (Pettyfer) say's 'I think we should be best friends'. Now not all the dialoge within this film is quite as perposterous and childish, oddly enough some character's dialouge is perfectly acceptable, creating for a more enjoyable performance's from previously mentioned actors Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer (despite that awful line!).
I also had a problem with the acting within this film from one actress in particular. Cody Horn plays Brooke, Channing Tatum's love interest, who towards the end of the film play's a big role. The only problem with Cody Horn is that she is incapable of showing any other emotion other than 'bored', and this reflects in her performance. Above all Magic Mike is a fun film for everyone to simply enjoy...how can we enjoy the film when the 'leading lady' puts a down note on every scene. She only ever really looks happy to be on screen when shes with Channing Tatum, which if looked at from a different perspective could be seen as simply part of the plot.
Overall, Magic Mike was a big surprise, despite the large feminine appeal, this film offers a strong driving force of a story, told through the eyes of some enthralling, lovable and oddly enticing characters.
70%- A surprisingly enjoyable film, providing an interesting story into the largely untouched occupation of male strippers.
Calum. Russell
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