Steven Soderbergh's film "Magic Mike" is as shamelessly appealing as the male strippers it portrays. Being a Soderbergh film, it sports an Altmanesque bevy of characters effortlessly juggled until the film seems to grow vague and uncertain, a la even his best films, like "Traffic".
Channing Tatum has much at stake here, given that the film is based on his own experiences as a stripper in Tampa and that he is a producer and star. While he is never less than engaging, he lacks the acting chops of George Clooney or Matt Damon, Soderbergh's leading men of choice for several fruitful years. Tatum nonetheless has his ample charms, which happen to include a buff physique that he is as eager to show off as his audience is to eyeball it.
Given much of the film's setting in the Xquisite strip club, there are a number of scenes of the dancers' routines, which inevitably include flashes of all-but-the Full Monty. With actors as game and entertaining as Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer involved, these scenes are more than your typical beefcake bonanza. While Matthew McConaughey's outsized performance is just shy of camp, it is indeed a breakout role, and is perhaps the best example of the director's knack for showcasing actors with leading man looks (Clooney) and character actor aspirations.
