Movie Spoiler MAGIC MIKE (2012) starring Matthew McConaughey- after review

Magic Mike: Movie Spoiler Summary (after capsule review).  Steven Soderbergh announced he was going to retire soon, but he shows no signs of letting up.  Perhaps the urgency has pushed him into working overtime, as he has never been more prolific.  And, if his latest, Magic Mike, is any indication, he's working within the upper echelon of his directing prowess.  His dependability as a solid film directer makes one wish he'll be postponing the end indefinitely.  A friend of Channing Tatum and a new screenwriter, Reid Carolin (who has a small role in the film) has taken a part of Tatum's once secret stripper past and fleshed it out on the big screen.  He forms an American dream story dressed up in a male thong.  Tatum plays a 30-year-old entrepreneur who runs a roofing company, handmade furniture business, and takes his clothes off at night for pay while showing off incredibly hip-hop skills.  He has dreams of focusing on creating unique, high-end furniture, but bad credit and a tough economy stand in his way.  Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), on the other hand, is in the business of running an all-male review and business is booming.  It's all about supply and demand.  Meanwhile, Mike takes newbie Adam (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing and shows him the stripping ropes.  Cody Horn, in a charming performance, plays Adam's sister.  Tatum's earnest personality and talent continue to shine through his third hit in 2012 (following The Vow and 21 Jump Street).  And, McConaughey is perfectly cast as the confident capitalist who knows how to give the ladies just what they're looking for; a Golden Globe nomination would not surprise me.  While the film is entertaining, it's also quite sobering, and may be a letdown for those less interested in story.  As well, the stripping scenes themselves are more fun, and less erotic.  Director Soderbergh filters the Tampa-set film through sepia tones and untraditional angles.  Lively and smart, Magic Mike gives you a decent amount of bang for all them One's you know you want to stuff into the undergarments of [insert cast-member's name here; and, yes, that includes Oliva Munn, duh].

[Image vis IMP Awards]

Movie Spoiler
Magic Mike starts off with a retro Warner Bros. logo (you're the man Soderbergh) before shots of Matthew McConaughey's body, as he talks to the women in the audience of his club, asking them about various body parts, "Can you touch this?"  He ends things with, "That's what the law says you cannot touch [referring to his cock], but I think I see a lot of lawbreakers out there.  And I don't see a cop in sight."

June.  Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) wakes up and his girlfriend Joanna (Olivia Munn) and him engage in a little banter.  He shows up at a construction site and negotiates wages with Sal (James Martin Kelly).  Later, Sal accuses Adam (Alex Pettyfer) of stealing and he quits.  At home, he discusses job possibilites with his sister Brooke (Cody Horn) and she takes him on a date with her boyfriend Paul (Reid Carolin), who works in claims.  It's a dry evening in humid Tampa and Paul isn't able to provide any worthwhile job opportunities for Adam.  He leaves and runs into Mike on the street.  Although he's shabbily dressed, Mike gets him into the Amphitheater Club.  He sends him over to talk to two girls at the bar (Camryn Grimes, Kate Easton), where Adam kicks an obnoxious bar guy (Asher Wallis) to the curb.  Mike pimps him out to push his all male revue show next door.  They have a few shots: "Here's to our children: may they have rich fucking parents."  In the green room of the club, he introduces Adam to Big Dick Richie (Joe Magnaniello, whom we first see sewing a gold lamé thong), Ken (Matt Bomer), Tito (Adam Rodriguez), and Tarzan (Kevin Nash).  They haze him a little bit with Tarzan asking him to massage some bronzing spray into his skin.  They continue prepping.  Richie pumps his penis.  They all drink a mood enhancer (I think called "G") which Tobias calls Hey-A (pronounced while turning up the gay) juice.  Dallas introduces the strippers as they perform raincoat and umbrella choreography to "It's Raining Men."  (Gene Kelly it is not!)  Other numbers are performed, including Eminem's "Halie's Song."  

Dallas plays the bongos before Tarzan is supposed to go on.  When he ODs from the drink, Mike pushes Adam onto the stage.  He's nervous at first, but gets comfortable very quickly in front of the room full of women as he grinds to "Like a Virgin."  The men leave the stage with undies stuffed full of money.  Dallas and Mike count the proceeds from the evening, while talking about Adam and the future.  Mike and Adam go out with the girls they convinced to come to the show and have fun until the early morning, including the two guys jumping off a bridge into the Tampa waters.  On the way home, Mike asks Adam, "How pregnant did you get that girl's mouth?"  Mike hits on Brooke, but she's not impressed.  At the gym, the camera pulls out on Dallas to reveal McConaughey in a hilariously skimpy yellow cut-off with tight black shorts.  He's teaching Adam how to dance seductively in front of a mirror and give the women a show.  "Now fuck that mirror like you made it."  

Mike takes Adam to a lingerie shop.  Arriving home, Brooke sees the various stripper paraphernalia and questions her brother about his sexuality, who is shaving his legs in the bathroom.  When he opens the door, the discussion continues ending with Brooke inquiring, "Is that my razor?"  Later at the club, more numbers are performed evoking various sex fantasies involving cowboys, firemen, etc.  Brooke shows up to watch.  Dallas, dressed in a leather S&M outfit, introduces Mike who performs a hip-hop number.  (Let me take this moment to say that Channing Tatum has MAD skills and nobody has anything on him; he rules)  Later, he gives Adam a ride home.  The next day, he visits a safe, where he takes a load of cold hard cash out and visits a banker (Betsy Brandt).  She gets a little flustered by Mike's hotness and has a moment that reminds me of the first time I saw Allison Janney.  She played a school-marm type in Primary Colors who is taken by Bill Clinton'sJohn Travolta's charm.  He puts on a professional presentation, even resorting to puppy doggy eyes, but because of his sorry credit, she is unable to accommodate him.  

July.  While Cloud Control's "Just For Now," plays, Mike takes Adam and Brooke on a boat with the guys to a sandbar party.  Joanna is there and she's intrigued by Brooke's tatto, who plays it off.  Mike and Brooke walk along the beach and talk.  At the show that night, the men perform a military number with some sick-ass choreography.  Mike brings Adam home drunk to Brooke, who is entertaining Paul.   He calls up Joanna and they have sex and talk afterwards.  At the club, more numbers are performed including themes that involve Greeks, doctors, Tarzan's signature number, sailors, firemen.  At the after-party, Dallas announces that he just secured a 10,000 sf venue in Miami to grow the business.  Everyone is excited but Mike.  Adam makes eyes with a girl there, Nora (Riley Keough conjures up memories of Brittany Murphy's sexy innocence), who has a pet pig Herman (Maynard).  Ken and his wife (Mircea Monroe) do some kind of drug with Adam and Nora, which involves the expression, "Angels or demons?"  Ken invites Adam to feel his wife's tits.

August.  Adam and Mike pick Brooke up in his new truck.  At a park, Mike talks to her about the future and tries to ask her out.  At a sorority party, Mike and Adam have a stripping gig where they play cops.  Everything goes well until Adam gives a girl named Kim (Caitlin Gerard) some Ecstasy.  Her boyfriend (Cameron Banfield), who was hanging out in the other room with his buddies, threatens Adam, things escalate, and a fight ensues.  Mike and Adam escape and on the way to the club, Mike confronts Joanna at a restaurant, who is having dinner with her fiancee Ryan (Michael Roark).  The boys arrive at the club without payment.  Mike argues with Dallas, and Tobias confronts Adam about losing the drugs, which were valued at over $10,000.  Mike performs a completely different hip-hop number in spite of Dallas.  There is a montage involving Mike and Adam taking drugs and then going home with some girls.  When Brooke arrives at Mike's the next day looking for Adam, he's lying in his own vomit, being munched on by Herman.  She takes him home.  Tobias shows up with some goons who want their money and ransack Mike's home; Mike bails Adam out by giving them the cash he had saved up.  Mike tries to find Adam, but his sister is no help.  He eventually finds him and they talk.  At the club that night, Dallas plays the guitar and sings, before slamming it on the floor into pieces.  He starts to dance.  Mike decides he is done with dancing.  Dallas promotes Adam to lead dancer and Mike and Brooke start dating.  Roll credits, which include scenes from the movie showing off the principal actors as their name appears.  Awesome.