Magic Mike

Well, if I could ONLY say two words about Magic Mike they would be ... yamma hamma!
It's not actually possible for me to do that, so here are my full thoughts on the movie and one of my new favorite actors.
I don't like to read reviews before I see movies, so I only knew going into Magic Mike that it is about the male stripper lifestyle and Steven Soderbergh directed it.
For both those reasons, and oh yeah Channing Tatum, I was intrigued.
Tatum is the face to Magic Mike and as silly as that name is, he pulled off the character quite well.
The story, apparently based on Tatum's own brief foray into stripping while living in Florida, is simple.
Mike was spotted on the street by the Xquisite strip club owner Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) and six years later was the main act that made women line up around the corner of the building for a show.
Mike saw it as a money-making venture to support his true dream of opening his own furniture company and embraced his job while trying not to get too involved in the drama.
I know the trailer makes Magic Mike look extremely cheesy and superficial, but it's not. If that's what it takes to get people to the theater then so be it; but between Soderbergh's smart directing skills and his golden boy Tatum's acting props, the project is a success. On top of some of the obvious visual entertainment in Magic Mike, there is actually some strong cinematography to note in the film as well.
I think the main flaw of the movie is Cody Horn cast as Mike's maybe-maybe not girlfriend Brooke. Horn, unfortunately, did not pull of the same acting profile as her co-stars. Olivia Munn, whose character Mike has a fling with now and then and maybe did really want to be with, should have been cast in Brooke's role. 
I also didn't care much for McConaughey, while he did a solid performance, I am just not a fan.
He fit the part and if the man is willing to wear a belly shirt and do a scene teaching a young stripper hopeful how to dance, then more power to him.
The young stripper hopeful is Adam (Alex Pettyfer) whose character I think really makes Mike decide if he wants to continue to pursue his dream by making easy money or if he just wants to take the chance and do it.
I'll leave that for you to find out when, not if, you see this movie.
The best thing overall about Magic Mike is that Soderbergh and Tatum made good on actually developing a believable story and out of something that could have been totally trivial.
My expectations for the film were not that low, again because of the names attached to it, but I think most viewers will get more than they bargained for if they can look beyond the oodles of scenes with hot men doing their thang on stage.
I have no complaints about that, believe me, but I do feel better knowing I saw a good movie as well.
And, there might be a sequel.
In the meantime I am glad Tatum is working with Soderbergh again after Magic Mike. He was a fresh face in Haywire and now is attached to The Bitter Pill alongside Rooney Mara and Jude Law.
If that's not enough, he's got movies coming out with Dustin Hoffman, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
I say that man Magic Mike, he's going places.