Friday Fun for Ladies Only!

For those of you who read my review on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter last Friday, you will appreciate that apparently being pleasantly suprised by films for which I had zero expectations is in the air.

Yes, I saw Magic Mike. Yes, I saw it the day it opened. No, I did not dress like I was going to a strip club, and no, my desire to see it had nothing to do with Channing Tatum. It was all about this guy, Mr. Alcide from True Blood, or known to his friends (I'm assuming) as Joe Manganiello.

What did I expect from this film? To see one of the dreamiest of dreamy men dance around. Ok. Dance around shirtless. So imagine my suprise when there was, like, a plot and everything.

So Channing Tatum plays Mike, a man dreaming of owning his custom furniture business and saving money towards this goal by stripping. Mike meets Adam, the new guy who is sexy but down and out on his luck, and brings him into the stripper fold. Luckily, Adam has a sister that Mike finds amazing. Unfortunately, Adam gets a bit too much in the night life, making it difficult for Mike to fulfill promise to sister that he will watch out for baby brother.

Mike has depth. Not a lot, mind you, and all of the depth is carefully constructed to create maximum appeal for the ladies. For instance, Mike doesn't just want to own a business-- he wants to make custom furniture. This requires a man to use his hands AND his soft feminine side. Other than opening a German Shepherd rescue, I cannot think of any other job that would appeal to women's love of the rugged man and desire for a softer, more creative job.

But, all in all, I was shocked for a few reasons:
After mocking him mercilessly for some time due to his total and complete lack of acting ability, I saw Channing Tatum dance, and finally understood what the attraction is. Hot damn.
A movie I expected NOTHING from actually turned out to have entertainment value beyond just watching shirtless men dance (though that was very entertaining
And perhaps the most suprising, Mattew McC. was really, really good. Played himself, I suspect, but he did it convincingly.

Enough plot to make it worth it for a man (or at least a straight one)? Probably not. Worth it for you ladies? Yeah... I am totally seeing it again in the theater.