Magic Mike

Surprise, surprise... looks like Channing Tatum is useful after all. 

Magic Mike is about a young man named Adam who gets into the stripper business, falling in to the party life of easy money, loose women, and drugs. This film stars Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn, and Matthew McConaughey.

And you thought this film was just cheap titillation for women.  Shame on you!

I was pleasantly surprised by this film, and not because of the naked men stripping on screen.  Let's just say I have little faith in Channing Tatum's acting abilities, partly because he rarely impresses me.  But in this film, I had zero issues with him.  I assume that he stepped it up because the film is loosely based on his life.  How embarrassing would it be if he sucked at recreating something he has already lived through?    

I found that the script was very realistic, especially the dialogue with the young girls.  The acting seemed very authentic and I liked that the most.  Now there were a lot of stripping scenes, and maybe a little too many, but that's just my opinion.  The dance numbers were very impressive, especially Tatum.  I forgot he was a good dancer, though you wouldn't know it by just watching him in Step Up. Ironically, he was much better in this film.

Now let's talk about the huge issue with this film: the ending!  It's so ambiguous, so empty.  You get a conclusion for one character, but you are completely left hanging when it comes to the main character.  They did not wrap up the film like they should have, and I just hope from the bottom of my heart, that they did not want to leave room for a sequel.  I can guarantee that if they try to continue this with more films, it will be a waste of people's money and time.  This is a one time success, and I promise you it won't happen again.

But back to the ending.  Seriously, it doesn't make sense.  I know I can't give it away, but let me say this -  had everything unfolded the way it did, the romantic element in the movie should not have happened.  Family will always come first, especially in a film like this, and I doubt that it would have ended that way in reality.  I think they were just desperate for a romantic moment.  That's all I'll say for now.

Matthew McConaughey deserves his own paragraph.  He really went all the way with his character, you can tell.  He was hilarious to watch and somehow mesmerizing - as though stripping is what he was meant to do.  I wish I was on set when he was filming, because I have a feeling it would have been one of the most entertaining performances to watch.

So Kudos to all the actors, the director, and the producers that made this film actually have substance.  Who would have thought?  I give this film 7.8/10.  Had the ending been better, maybe this would have been worth a solid 8.