Magic Mike

Synopsis
Steven Soderbergh's MAGIC MIKE stars Channing Tatum as the title character, an entrepreneur who works as a roofer and in several other occupations, but makes most of his money being the star attraction at Club Xquisite, a male strip joint in Tampa that fills every weekend night with drunken, horny women eager to slide dollar bills between hard-bodied dudes and the G-strings they wear. While on a roofing job, Mike meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a misfit college dropout who lost a football scholarship when he punched his coach, and he decides to teach the kid how to become an exotic dancer. Mike introduces Adam to Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), the owner of the club, and gets him onto the crew of regular performers. As Dallas plans a big move for the troupe, Mike tries to start his dream business, falls for Adam's sister, and sees Adam fall to the temptations of the stripper life.

Reviews
"Almost as impressive as Tatum's moves are his comic flair and breezy grace." (USA Today)

"[Soderbergh] has made sure that the onstage part of MAGIC MIKE is characterized by energy and flash." (Los Angeles Times)

4 stars out of 5 -- "MAGIC MIKE both is and isn't the freewheeling, fun-loving, male stripper extravaganza its trailers peddle. Running parallel to this flesh game is another of Soderbergh's nuanced looks at contemporary American life..." (Box Office)

"[A]rguably the raunchiest, funniest and most enjoyably nonjudgmental American movie about selling sex since BOOGIE NIGHTS..." (Hollywood Reporter)

"It's cheerfully raunchy, and delivers the goods for fans of male beefcake, though with more innocence, along with some sadness, than would appear at first blush." (Wall Street Journal)

3 stars out of 4 -- "[A] crafty mixture of comedy, romance, melodrama and some remarkably well-staged strip routines involving hunky, good-looking guys." (Chicago Sun-Times)

"[A] funny, enjoyable romp about male strippers and the American dream....It’s clear the director is out to maximize everyone’s pleasure." (New York Times)

4 stars out of 5 -- "Soderbergh's out to give audiences a good time, and he succeeds." (Total Film)

"Channing Tatum proves himself a true movie star. His Mike glides through the world with the ease of a god, and on stage he's electrifying." -- Grade: A- (Entertainment Weekly)

"There is no better actor for such a part than McConaughey, who inhabits the role while occasionally using it to send up his own public image." -- Grade: B (A.V. Club)

"[T]his is a film about strippers having a really smashing ime, and on that level it's a likeable exercise in don't-take-yourself-so-seriously." (Sight and Sound)