Being a straight male, I never thought I’d enjoy a drama about male strippers, and to this day, it’s still true – well, half true. Half of Magic Mike is funny, unique and surprising refreshing, but the other half falls apart as the comedic content (the stripping) is heavily reduced and mass amounts of far-too-familiar cliched take its place.
Channing Tatum stars as the titular character Magic Mike, Tampa’s hottest male stripper. Despite the good cash that Mike makes, he still works two other jobs (that we only see him work once) trying to earn enough money to start his own handmade unique furniture store. I know, I know – this plot sounds lame; but the way that we’re first introduced to this story is done in a strong way that only Steven Soderbergh can do.
Unfortunately, the second half not only lets the cheesiness of this plot shine, but it introduces every cliché one might expect from a movie about strippers – drugs, drug dealing, over-dosing, hurt feelings et cetera. While the first half is so entertaining that it bristly moves along, the second half is so drab that it drags on and on and on. What once was good turns into cringe-inducing well-made fluff.
Unless you ladies are having a bachelorette party or a girls night out this weekend, don’t go out of your way to see magic-less Magic Mike. It could have been great, but ultimately turns into mediocrity.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
