There are two types of audience for the male strippers movie Magic Mike, I think. The ones who like to stare at men’s near naked body down to their bare butts. Or men who bring their girlfriends or wives to watch this film hoping to get them horny. I, on the record, have vehemently said no to this movie. But Cynthia insisted and kept on saying the magic word ‘Magic Mike’ every morning. Magic Mike, Magic Mike, Magic Mike. I gave in, on the condition that my buddy TK would agree to watch a male strippers show. It was almost a flawless plan. No way he would agree to it. Except, TK had no idea what Magic Mike was and eagerly said yes, a tad too fast on Whatsapp. The rest was history.
In the opening sense, when the perfectly oiled body of Matthew McConaughey came on stage and danced in front of a house full of cheering girl and as he slowly peeled away pieces of his costume one by one leaving only the – I presume – buffed up crotch garment on, I almost fainted. STOP, right there! Fortunately he left that essential piece of clothes on, like Adam and Eve and the hanging green leaves.
To my surprise, I enjoyed watching Magic Mike. The story is original. McConaughey plays Dallas who runs a male strip club. One day, Mike (Channing Tatum) introduces Adam, a 19 years old teenage heartthrob played by Alex Pettyfer to the business. Dallas dubs Adam as The Kid and Adam is an immediate success. Money, women, and a sense of freedom – to a slacker like Adam who has thrown away his football scholarship, this new lifestyle is irresistible. I can sense that Mike can see a younger version of him in Adam whenever he looks at Adam.
Meanwhile, there is another side of Mike who sees being a male stripper is only a mean to an end. But to what end? It is one man’s journey to finding his worth. Meeting Adam’s sister Brooke (Cody Horn) may have awaken something within him. Dallas’s club is going big hitting Miami. Adam being the new kid in the block has now become Dallas’s new favorite threatening Mike as Dallas’s right hand man. What is Mike going to do?
Channing Tatum plays a charming character. Not only on stage, but also off the stage. I know he can dance. It is good to see that he can act convincingly as well. I also happen to enjoy Cody Horn’s acting. So innocent and pure. Matthew McConaughey has a commanding presence that is a major contributor to the theme of this show. There is a lot of entertainment on stage. Some of the dance sequences are hilarious. There are a fair bit of sex scenes too. But like the stripping act, they are tastefully done. Magic Mike is way more than stripping. You would end up liking every single characters, like I do. I also like how the filmmakers handle the film’s ending.
Now, if there was a film called Magic Maggie with female strippers and all, I wonder how that would work out.