Blu-ray Review: ‘Magic Mike’ May Not Be What You’re Expecting

CHICAGO – Warner Bros. advertised Steven Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike” as a non-stop beefcake show, the equivalent of “Showgirls” for the ladies. It’s not quite that. In fact, the film is more drama than most people expected when it was advertised as little more than a skin parade. Even with that in mind, Warner Bros. knows their target audience and have cleverly put together a Blu-ray release designed to appeal to bachelorette parties too embarrassed to see the movie in theaters.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

In a very clever move, Warner Bros. has included a “Dance Play Mode,” in which viewers can skip that pesky plot and just watch the strip scenes. There are also extended dance sequences and some sexy backstage footage.

However, this bonus material kind of continues the false advertising for the movie, one that is about a lot more than Channing Tatum’s abs. Working with a spectacular ensemble, including an Oscar-nomination-worthy Supporting Actor performance from Matthew McConaughey, Steven Soderbergh, one of our best working directors, has crafted a tale of a man stuck at a turning point. He wants to break free from the stripper life that has made him a small fortune but is having difficulty doing so both in love and in finances. “Magic Mike” is in many ways Soderbergh’s flip side to “The Girlfriend Experience,” another tale of a worker who uses their body and comes to stark realizations about the economy and the real world.

Of course, “MM” made a lot more money and had a more high-profile cast. And so it’s understandable that the Blu-ray plays to the fans of that hunky cast but I do wish there was a commentary or a featurette that recognized the arthouse cred and following for the movie — one that admired the film’s brain as much as its brawn.

Magic Mike was released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 23, 2012
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Synopsis:
“Channing Tatum is electrifying” (Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly) as Magic Mike, an entrepreneur with many talents and loads of charm. Mike spends his days pursuing the American dream, from roofing houses to designing furniture. But at night… he’s just magic. The hot headliner in an all-male revue, Magic Mike has been rocking the stage at Club Xquisite for years, with his original style and over-the-top dance moves. Just as another summer heats up, an intriguing new woman enters his life, causing Mike to think twice about his future as a dancer.

Click here to buy “Magic Mike” [15]

Special Features:
o Extended Dance Scenes: Watch Full Length Dance Scenes Too Hot For Theaters
o Dance Play Mode: Play All Dance Sequences Back To Back
o Backstage on Magic Mike: From Manscaping To Hip Shaking, Channing Tatum Exposes The Finer Details Of Being A Male Stripper And The Transformation That His Costars McConaughey, Bomer and Maganiello Went Through To Perfect The Art Of Taking Off Their Clothes

[16]	By BRIAN TALLERICO [17] Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com [16]