Movie Review: Magic Mike *

Magic Mike should make some magic and disappear. What a stupid movie. I always forget how much I dislike Matthew McConaughey until I'm watching him. He's the same in every movie and sometimes that works better than others, depending on the movie (mostly it doesn't work at all for me), but you can almost hear the director as you're watching him in Magic Mike: "No...sleazier!" "Okay, reeeeaaaally swivel your hips now." "Okay, now lick your lips in a lewd and lascivious way." You're always conscience that he's acting (or trying to) and he seems to be thinking, aren't I good?
In a word...no.
Should I have expected a storyline? Probably not. But I did, and whatever's there is extremely thin, nearly invisible to the naked eye. There's the new-kid-on-the-stripping-block who magically becomes the club favorite, even though he's never done this before and doesn't even dance. Yeah, that's believable. Then there's the disgusted sister who has no use at all for Mike and his "career" until suddenly she's laughing uproariously at his jokes (which aren't funny) and you can practically see the lightbulb going off over her head. You know this device: boy meets girl, girl hates boy, girl discovers she loves boy. It makes for a good story if it's done right. In this movie it's not. Again, you can hear the director: "Okay, you're starting to find him attractive." She giggles at nothing. Director: "Okay, now it's dawning on you that you're liking this guy." She laughs raucously at nothing.

I finally had enough and left, so I have no idea how this movie ends. But I can guess. And even if I'm wrong...who cares?
BTW, I almost always agree with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune but shockingly he gave Magic Mike 3-1/2 stars. Michael, Michael, Michael...
From me? one star for Magic Mike.