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Magic Mike has a problem. The problem is that it’s a movie trying to appeal to two very different kinds of audiences: the rowdy I want to see some man candy crowd and the give me a compelling story crowd. These two different crowds choose a movie for different reasons. Magic Mike has been marketed to the man candy crowd. It’s a compelling story movie.
Dangerous waters ahead! There is no way to successfully pilot through these turbulent, conflicting waters. For the man candy crowd, there is too much story. For the story crowd, there is too much “dancing.” I’m in the story crowd. What I saw I wouldn’t describe as dancing, though Tatum can dance. But he was the only one who could. Everyone else simply gyrates.
The set-up is simple. A 30 year old stripper has big plans for his life, and he’s making them work. He thinks. He meets a nice girl, looks at his life differently because of her, changes his life at the crisis point, gets the girl.
That’s it in a nutshell, with all the plot stripped (ha!) away. I saw it as a Rocky type of tale, only the trajectory is in reverse. Here’s what I mean:
Rocky:
Loser living a loser life
Loser meets nice girl via her skeezy brother
Loser tries to change his trajectory, change himself
Loser gains a vision of the life he wants to live
Loser becomes a winner and gets the girl
Magic Mike:
Winner living a winning life
Winner meets nice girl via her skeezy brother
Winner tries to change his trajectory, change himself
Winner gains a vision of the life he’s really living
Winner realizes he’s a loser, leaves losing life, gets the girl
See what I mean? In structural and thematic terms, the two movies have a lot in common. We see the seedy underbelly of a world seeped in corruption (boxing and stripping). We see men who use their bodies as tools. We see men who are struggling to better themselves and become who they used to believe they could be. And in each movie, it’s a nice girl who is the catalyst for change in that they want to be someone the nice girl would want to be with.
Rocky is a movie with a lot of heart; we are rooting for the hero. We want him to succeed. We find his life sad and want him to do better. Magic Mike doesn’t have quite as much heart and I think that’s because of the man candy “problem.” Does the audience want Mike to change, to become something more than eye candy? If not, then that’s a problem. The man candy aspect distracts from the hero’s journey. It’s been said by some about Magic Mike, “Too much talking, 
not enough dancing.” If you don’t want Mike to leave the stripping life then that’s true. If you want him to stop stripping then every time he dances you feel a sense of sadness.
He’s trapped in a life that he doesn’t want and that degrades him. Sad.
He’s gorgeous eye candy and he’s good at what he does. Happy.
What is the audience supposed to feel? Happy or sad? Are we supposed to sexually desire Mike the stripper or feel sorry for him?
Your turn. Spew away.
38 Comments on “Movie Review Spew”
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I was soooo disappointed when I saw it! The movie felt so slow. I would go to a strip club for the sillyness not to get off. The movie strippers came off as somewhat smutty to me. The Chippendales also said something similar in an interview.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 7:16 am.
I think it felt slow because of all the story. There was a lot going on with the characters, and then they’d pause to dance, then more plot, then more dancing.
Split personality movie.
I’m not a woman who enjoys stripping so it was smutty to me in the extreme. Overall, a sad movie to my mind. But others find it a rollicking good time! With too much plot.
That’s the whole problem.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 8:50 am.
I don’t know, isn’t it harder to move away from something you’re content with to gain inner peace? Leaving a loser life in some ways might be easier.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 7:26 am.
I’m just glad he left the life. He had so much potential and was such a hard worker. He deserved better.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 9:04 am.
Claudia, I didn’t go to the movie because I didn’t think I would like the stripper aspect and your review/explanation kind of clarifies it for me. I am much more a fan of the Rocky movies and as much as I think Tatum is steaming hot, I really don’t identify with his struggle like I do Rocky’s. My friend was dying to see Magic Mike and went and was very disappointed. As you mentioned, too much talking and not enough dancing.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 8:26 am.
The Rocky movies have so much heart! You just yearn for the hero to succeed, cheer when he does.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 9:06 am.
I enjoyed the movie. I went in with low expectations for plot, and high expectations for hot. I was happy with both. I did think that the love interest was a terrible actor though.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 8:50 am.
I really liked the girl actor! I thought she was very believable and liked the quiet sexual tension between them. Funny.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 9:07 am.
Goddesses, I’m having terrible trouble with my internet connection today. It’s making it difficult to answer in a timely manner. My apologies!
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 9:40 am.
I haven’t seen it yet, and although I love plot driven movies, I probably would have just seen this one for the eye-candy. Even though his acting was rather stilted and the story was rather cheesy, I liked Channing Tatum in the first Step Up with the woman that later became his real-life wife, Jenna. Hard luck kid meets gorgeous wealthy ballet dancer….blah, blah, blah. I love dancing, I love sappy stories, and I enjoyed this one. I’ll likely wait for this one to come out on DVD.
Another film that I felt was a rip-roaring good time with lots of eye-candy was The Avengers. Absolutely filled to the rafters with gorgeous men, and it was a great ride of a film. Saw that one twice in the theaters.
Loved Rocky, Rudy, The Blind Side, Radio, Remember the Titans, Good Will Hunting, Simon Burch–I like all of those kinds of films that take you on a journey where someone has a goal (whatever that goal may be) or a certain set of circumstances and expectations, and you see how they change and their life changes as they along in life. Great movies to watch!
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 9:44 am.
I love those kind of movies as well. Just uplifting and heart-soaring and generally hopeful. Makes me walk out of the theater with a song in my heart.
I’m sure that’s corny, but it’s still true.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 12:51 pm.
I have yet to see the movie and having seen damn good strippers before I think I don’t want to see someone acting in a movie about one. New Guy, Sci Fi Guy and I all went to see the new Batman movie and it was amazing. I highly recommend seeing it despite the tragedy in Colorado. I ended up getting a little teary towards the end but I can be a bit of a sook at times.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 9:46 am.
You know, I was going to see Batman yesterday but I couldn’t imagine how I could sit still for 3 hours. It’s a great movie, I have no doubt, but I’m going to wait for it to hit Redbox.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 12:52 pm.
Claudia, I just saw it today and it was visually stunning on the large screen. If you get the chance to go you definitely should see it in the theater. The three hours goes very quickly.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 5:04 pm.
I would need a potty break, and I don’t want to miss a second of it!
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 6:16 pm.
I, like Cail, went into the movie with low expectations. I had heard that the plot was little more than a catalyst to keep the dancing going. I went with a friend and I nearly felt like sniggering through the entire thing. Most of the dancing was ridiculous and the plot was, as I expected, lack luster. But I loved it. I loved the half-naked men, and as a fan of Channing Tatum, I was more than happy to just watch.
Besides which, the entire movie was based on Channing Tatum’s life. He was a stripper (doing what you see in the movie, including visiting ladies’ houses), and he left that life to become an actor. And, he eventually got the girl.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 10:23 am.
I knew about his life story and I think that’s why the movie had any pathos at all. It was a story, his story, and that gave it more heft than the trailers indicate.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 12:54 pm.
I’m not quite sure how to feel in this particular situation…Regardless, I’m a bit ashamed to say that I’m shallow enough to show up with no expectations and enjoy.
Have a good one!
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 10:24 am.
Hope you enjoy it!
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 12:54 pm.
I am usually more of a story girl. I still don’t know what to think, even after your lovely review! I guess I will wait for the dvd and watch with low expectation.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 11:16 am.
Well, I’m not sure it’s a lovely review. More like my confusion put on display!
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 12:55 pm.
Once again, Cail has expressed my thoughts for me. Thanks, girl!
From a business perspective, like Rocky, it was a low budget film that has made a mint – relations budget relative to their respective decades.
Interesting juxtaposition, Claudia. You’ve made me feel less cliche girly girl for seeing it.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 11:18 am.
LOL Anything to help.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 12:56 pm.
I had no problem with the stripping/dancing
I’m definitely in the less talk, more dancing camp.
My biggest issue, and the reason I liked the dancing more than the plot, was that I felt that on the plot side, the movie didn’t quite know where it wanted to go. It started out as “fun times comedy” and morphed into “serious drama”. The tone of the movie changed so suddenly that I almost got whiplash.
Plus, I didn’t like the main actress. Through most of the movie, she had such a petulant expression on her face – I found it very off-putting.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 1:19 pm.
It’s so true; the movie was stuck trying to be two things, not sure which it was trying to be. It was jarring.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 3:59 pm.
I haven’t see it yet, but I always have problems with movies that don’t know what they want to be. Normally the audience punishes them with low sales— fulfilling expectations is pretty important with movies. So from the ads, I would expect an eye candy romp and a light story. Even if the guy leaves the life, I would not expect the whole tone to change. If it did, I would be dissatisfied,like the ads had done a bait and switch on me
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 1:38 pm.
I loathe and despise when the trailers aren’t accurate representations of the movie—and it happens all the time!! I don’t know how or why it happens, there’s no excuse for it, but it happens too often. Tower Heist was another one like that. Trailers said: Funny, laugh a minute riot! Movie was: dark story about betrayal and breaking the law and going to prison. Huh?
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 4:01 pm.
Yes, there were parts of “Magic Mike” that I did not like.
There are lots of chunks of “Rocky” I did not like either.
I did not like the new Batman movie series.
Unsure of any up-coming movie that I want to see.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 1:45 pm.
No kidding! You’re the first I’ve known who hasn’t liked the new Batman trilogy. Is it too dark for you? Too intense? I usually like comic book movies so I’m the worst judge. I think it’s that I don’t expect much and so am easily pleased with whatever they decide to do with it.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 4:03 pm.
I watched the ads for this movie many times and I tried to imagine plunking down eight dollars for it instead of Brave or the Amazing Spiderman, not so much. I might rent it at Redbox but and again maybe not.I love the guys in the movie and I would watch them in just about anything else but not this. And I absolutely adore eye-candy, you guys know that.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 2:36 pm.
I think it’s how your personal raunch meter registers. Mine is pretty sensitive. If yours is more flexible, you might really like it.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 4:04 pm.
Mine is pretty sensitive as well, that’s why it didn’t really appeal to me enough to see it first run.I see some of these people doing bump & grinds it makes me not so much uncomfortable as I feel it lacks class. Although I loved Jamie Lee Curtis’ scene with Arnold in True Lies, that was fun.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 4:45 pm.
So agree! That scene in True Lies was adorable and crazy and I loved it. The strip scenes in Magic Mike made me uncomfortable.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 6:18 pm.
Claudia, I discussed this movie with a couple of friends and we all agreed that MM was most likely originally targeted to men as a buddy movie. Only it turned into a chick-flick.
Women don’t want a man’s junk in their face, humping away. That’s a man’s fantasy. MOST women don’t want to be a friend with hookup benefits that helps troll for a third. That’s a man’s fantasy.
All that being said, I really enjoyed the movie. Especially how the first part contrasted with the last part. All the glitter was gone. MM is questioning everything.
There’s gonna be another one, btw! And it’s being considered for Broadway.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 8:41 pm.
Interesting! I hadn’t thought of it as a man’s fantasy movie, but I can see your point. I kept wondering why any of the women in the film wanted some strange man’s junk in her face, in front of howling, roaring witnesses, and couldn’t make heads or tails (Hahahaha) of it. Man’s fantasy? That makes more sense.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 10:08 pm.
I haven’t seen Magic Mike because I find the whole stripper thing skeevy. I do wonder what the discussion would be if Magic Mike were Magic Michaela. I think that we’d want her to leave the stripper life behind. Why should it be different when it’s a man?
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 9:08 pm.
Well, it’s not different for me! LOL But, like I said, I think the movie got confused in its purpose.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 10:09 pm.
At my dh’s movie studio they talk about “sin” and redemption when they’re developing their main characters. Apparently, audiences relate to characters who are flawed, but become stronger thru their trials. Ironman is a good example. Tony Stark is pretty flawed – arrogant, doesn’t care to whom his weapons are being sold, etc, but then he gets injured by his own weapons. He redeems himself by becoming Ironman – still arrogant, but it helps him as he’s helps save the lives of others.
Going off of what you’ve said, it sounds like the MM filmmakers were a little foggy about redeeming MM.
Posted on July 26, 2012 at 11:47 pm.