‘Magic Mike’ has bump and grind of truth, some of the time

Magic Mike/2012/Nick Wechsler Productions/110 min.

By Michael Wilmington

The art and commerce of striptease – at least as we see it in director Steven Soderbergh and producer/star Channing Tatum’s “Magic Mike” – is entertainment in a very elemental (let’s not say stripped-down) form. The performer takes off her/his clothes and dances suggestively. Audience members, if they choose, holler rude, lewd lines, drink themselves into a stupor and sometimes shower the stripper with bills.

Technique is helpful, but not as crucial as looks or stage presence – both of which Tatum must have had in his brief career, in his teens, as a male exotic dancer. The dancing doesn’t have to be particularly good, but it’s best when the dancer has a sense of humor or drama. (I guess Tatum must have had those too.)

The well-upholstered Tatum, who plays Magic Mike, star dancer dude at the raunchy Tampa club Xquisite, is also one of the film’s producers. (“Magic Mike” must be one of the few movies where a producer has to take off his clothes and get money jammed into his thong as part of his duties.) His producing partner Reid Carolin wrote the script (I assume based largely on Tatum’s memories) and plays the part of Paul. The plot Tatum and Carolin have come up with loosely resembles “All About Eve” crossed with “Boogie Nights,” “Showgirls” and Christina Aguilera’s “Burlesque” – with male strippers, mostly without bitchery.

Here’s what happens. Tatum as Magic Mike, ab-happy king of the strip hill at Xquisite, befriends college dropout Adam aka “The Kid” (Alex Pettyfer) on a construction job, introduces him to Xquisite head honcho Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), and gets him a job at the club. The Kid’s fresh looks and what-am-I-doing-here? attitude make him an immediate sensation. Meanwhile, Magic Mike, who wants to go legit with a custom-made furniture business, also gets a yen for Adam’s sister, sensible Brooke (Cody Horn).

The Kid’s star rises. Things get darker. There’s a lot of sex and nudity, including an orgy with a pig wandering around. (You suspect something like this once happened somewhere.) Dallas wants to take the act to Miami. The club deejay, good-natured and chubby Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias), peddles Ecstasy on the side. Adam loses a lot of drugs and dough. Hey, stripping isn’t all “woman, money and good times,” as one character puts it. Some mornings you wake up with a pig staring you in the face.

“Magic Mike” struck me as realistic in its depiction of the whole club milieu (not that I’ve done any research), but as somewhat phony in its story – though the dialogue is periodically sharp and the acting is much better than usual for this kind of show. (Remember “Showgirls”?)

Matthew McConaughey gives depth to the part of Dallas.

There’s one knockout performance, by McConaughey as the affable, energetic and utterly shameless club czar and sometime stripper. McConaughey plays it strictly for sleaze and laughs, but he also suggests a real person: a sleazy, funny one. If the entire movie were as entertaining as McConaughey – or a bit darker than Tatum, Carolin and Soderbergh seem to want to make it – it would have been better.

Tatum, as mentioned, has the looks and presence for Mike, but not quite the magic. He does a fairly good job, and his onstage backflips are awesome, but I thought he spent too much time seducing the camera, James Deaning it up and getting us to like him, and not enough digging into the guy and making him real. It’s a very self-conscious “good” performance.

Pettyfer does an even more narcissistic job, and I’m not sure the fact that The Kid is supposed to be narcissistic and irresponsible is much of an excuse. Sister Brooke is a typical decent-onlooker part, which she does OK. People who like the dancing won’t care all that much about the acting – and that’s probably a good part of what made the movie such an opening-weekend hit.

So why did a sometimes brilliant and unpigeonholeable filmmaker like Steven Soderbergh want to make this movie? Well, sex, if not lies and videotape, has usually worked for him, and it’s always good news when a gifted moviemaker – especially one like Soderbergh, who really takes chances – gets a financial success. Obviously, he likes to work, likes the whole job of making movies. (He also photographed and edited this one.) He likes working with good-looking actors, and “Magic Mike” allows him to twist around sex roles for men the way “Haywire” shuffled them around for a woman (Gina Carano). Maybe he liked the music. And maybe he secretly harbored the desire to do a pig-at-the-orgy scene.

Dita Von Teese and Strip Strip Hooray! return to Los Angeles

Dita Von Teese

Dita Von Teese and Burlesque: Strip Strip Hooray! return to the West Coast, starting in Los Angeles on Friday, May 11, at the House of Blues. The 90-minute revue also features MC Murray Hill and burlesque acts Dirty Martini, Catherine D’Lish, Selene Luna, Monsieur Romeo, Lada and Perle Noire.

Other stops on the tour include San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Orange County. I went to her show last year and it’s terrific. Dita and I chatted via email last year; you can read my interview here and see a preview of the show here.

Additionally, on May 1, Dita launched her signature fragrance at Liberty of London and hosted a dinner at the Arts Club where she celebrated with guests, including Christian Louboutin, Roland Mouret and Jenny Packham.

The Dita Von Teese fragrance recently won the award for Best Lifestyle Fragrance at the German Fragrance Foundation‘s Duftstar awards. Her fragrance was up against fellow nominees Christina Aguilera, Bruce Willis and S Oliver.

Watch Dita on CNN’s “Quest Means Business” here:

Count on Dita Von Teese for easy elegance, breezy grace

Anne Brennan To Go

Dita Von Teese set the sartorial pace at Coachella last month.

This post comes from my wise and witty friend, writer Anne Brennan. Read more of her musings on Twitter at: http://bit.ly/lWTmU5.
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If I could come back as another person, I’d have to choose between Carla Bruni (wife of French president, model/singer, once a love obsession of Eric Clapton’s) and Dita Von Teese (burlesque performer extraordinaire).
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I love their larger-than-life personalities and styles, especially in the midst of mundane—you know, like the recession or the “Real Housewives” franchise. Take for example, Coachella, the outdoor music fest. Vanessa Hudgens was trying to be ’70s bohemian cool by wearing a thigh-chain on her leg. You keep trying, Vanessa.
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What does Dita do? She wears a sailor’s hat with a vintage Hawaiian print dress! Something tells me Dita doesn’t have to worry about showing up in the same outfit as someone else. And the fact that Dita has a hot 20-something boyfriend doesn’t hurt. Oh, did I mention he’s a French aristrocrat? Just when I thought Dita Von Teese couldn’t get any cooler, she does.
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The modern-day femme fatale not only rocks her own ode-to-’40s style, she’s generous about it. Take a look at the June Vanity Fair cover, featuring Katy Perry. Remind you of anyone? In a New York Post interview, Dita says: “People have always copied my style. I used to have friends who would dye their hair exactly the same shade as mine. I see it as a compliment.”
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Katy Perry on the cover of Vanity Fair.

Dita Von Teese in a 2008 photo.

Of Perry, she added: “Katy and I are friends. She comes to a lot of my shows, but she [recently] came backstage and said: ‘I am taking all of this (gesturing at her hair and costume).’ ”
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Of Perry, she added: “Katy and I are friends. She comes to a lot of my shows, but she [recently] came backstage and said: ‘I am taking all of this (gesturing at her hair and costume).’ ”
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One confession: I still don’t get her marriage to Marilyn Manson (2005–2007). Guess every femme fatale needs a bad decision in her past.
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Dita is bringing her brand of burlesque to Los Angeles this month. She is scheduled to appear May 17-18 at the Roxy in West Hollywood. For info, visit http://www.dita.net/info.php.
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Coachella image from Stylelist.com; others from Vanity Fair and FilmMagic via New York Post.
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