He meets Mike (Channing) in a construction site and Mike takes him to his other job as a stripper in Xquisite club where he’s known as Magic Mike. The club is owned by Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) who gives Adam the chance to dance on stage where he soon becomes a hit. Mike has a slow burn of a romance with Brooke and he realizes his being a stripper is a hindrance to their relationship.
If you’re just after gratuitous male nudity, you won’t find it here. There’s no full monty, but the choreography of the dance sequences are very energetic and entertaining, captured perfectly by Soderbergh who’s also the cinematographer of his own films. He manages to come up with a film that’s surprisingly not just a chick flick about naked male flesh as it combines the titillating scenes with clever bits of comedy and some drama that deals with valid issues of women, easy money, drugs, as well as feeling depressed about where your kind of job will eventually lead you.
Mike sees himself as a future entrepreneur with his own custom furniture business. He has promised Brooke he’d take good care of Adam but the kid gets into a drug deal that goes wrong and Mike feels responsible for what happened.
Channing has the charisma and confidence to be perfectly credible in his role and he manages to make us relate to the inner conflicts of his character. No wonder he’s one of the hottest actors in Hollywood today. But Pettyfer is not as persuasive in his role, unlike McConaughey who obviously relishes his role as the owner of the club and plays it with so much passion and gusto. Cody Horn also holds her own as Mike’s love interest.
As for the supporting cast, they’re little more than just sculpted beefcake eye candy on the dance floor: Joe Manganiello of “True Blood” (who has a visual gag as Big Dick Richie about a penis enlarger), Matt Bomer of “White Collar”, Adam Rodriguez of 'CSI: Miami' and professional wrestler Kevin Nash.
