I know, I am WAY behind the times, but I finally got a copy of Magic Mike from Netflix this week. I’d seen the gifs (oh, had I seen the gifs!), but would the movie live up to the hype?
In some ways, an emphatic yes. The dancing was awesome; gifs are great and all, but there’s just something about seeing those butts blown up on the TV screen that’s much better than a puny 300 pixel-wide image. I admit, there were times that I was disappointed that the clips weren’t much longer than had been captured in the gifs, but other scenes more than made up for that. Can you say “Pony”?
The cast was a mixed bag. Channing Tatum can dance, and he was okay in most of the casual scenes, but the scene where he goes to the bank to ask for a small business loan was almost painfully awkward and stilted. Alex Pettyfer was okay as The Kid, but I hated his character so much there was really no way for any actor to redeem him. Cody Horn wasn’t given much to work with as Brooke; she spent most of the movie pissed off at either her brother or Mike (or both). Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello were criminally underused. But Matthew McConaughey was perfect as club owner/emcee Dallas.
The plot and dialogue left much to be desired, but let’s face it, no one went to see this for the plot. Some scenes did seem more realistic because the lines weren’t perfectly polished, because who among us has a screenwriter thinking up the perfect witty repartee for every situation? I found myself wishing that they’d either scrapped any pretense at a plot and just focused on the stripping or that they’d done a massive overhaul of the script. All in all, I probably won’t change the channel if I happen across it on TV later on, but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. Maybe one day we’ll get higher quality ladyboner bait, but for now, I’ll take what I can get.
7 replies on “What I Watched Last Night: Magic Mike”
Matthew McConaughey was by far the best part of the movie. Alright alright alriiiiiight. Reliant Energy commercials will never be the same.
Aside from that, I also liked the dancing but the plot was so meh I was bored before the movie was over (I saw it in the theater for a girls’ day and so I couldn’t goof around). I felt like Cody Horn had the same expression the entire time. The script was trying to do some deep complicated thing with Dallas’ betrayal of Mike and the drug culture going on amongst the guys, but it was totally flat and if they weren’t going to actually commit to it they should’ve just stuck to the fun dancing and Matthew McConaughey in his weirdo outfits.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but…I’m not turned on by those videos. Like, at all.
I watched this on Election Day, because America.
I was disappointed, too. I expected a really fun movie, and I walked away feeling terrible for Boy Strippers.
It really annoys me that they billed this movie to women but, aside from the stripping, it was really a story about the relationship between Mike and The Kid. Aside from the main female character, the women were one dimensional and the audience women in the club didn’t seem to be portrayed in a very good light. I was pretty disappointed.
I watched whenever the music started, didn’t care about the “plot” at all, had some secondhand embarrassment during some crotch thrusting and when my stream give out, I didn’t mind.
The gifs are there for a reason.
I watched this at home, by myself, and was underwhelmed too. I think this is one of those “experience” movies, where it would have been much more fun to have gone with some friends and fully embraced the silliness. Kind of like how Rocky Horror Picture Show is so much better when “experienced” than just “watched”.
A friend and I watched this movie after she got fired from her first, real grown up job. We played the drinking game, “every time you see a swimsuit area, take a shot.”
That may have been the worst/most effective drinking game ever. By the end, all we could do was groan, “Please…no more butts.” Beyond that though, the plot was horrible, the acting was even worse, and Matthew McConaughey was perfect.