Magic Mike - DVD

Film: There are few directors who display such versatility as Steven Soderbergh does. Whether it`s fun popcorn cinema (Ocean`s 11-13), sophisticated arthouse dramas (The Good German), cryptic entertainment (Erin Brokovic, The Informant) or experimental science fiction (Solaris), the filmmaker almost always expertly avoids repeating himself with his wide genre range. And that's exactly what he's managed to do with his latest, Magic Mike. After the great epidemic thriller Contagion and the unusual action thriller Haywire, Soderbergh now presents a drama from the world of male strippers spiced with some humor and romance.

Channing Tatum plays here the successful stripper Mike, who takes the young Adam (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing. While Adam becomes more and more intrigued by finally making good money and being adored by countless women every night, Mike flirts with the idea of turning his back on that part of his life. Although his boss, club owner Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) has big plans for his most successful stripper, Mike dreams of making a living designing his own furniture. When he meets and falls in love with Adam's sister Brooke (Cody Horn), his mind seems finally made up...

In some moments, Magic Mike is reminiscent of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights. However, Soderbergh's behind-the-scenes look at the stripper business doesn't have the depth or bite that Anderson's Oscar-nominated drama excelled at. That's not a bad thing, though. Because even though the film strives for authenticity and a certain amount of dramatic depth, the focus is clearly on having a good time. Magic Mike aims to be fun on a high level, and for long stretches the film succeeds very well. Based on the experiences of lead actor and producer Channing Tatum himself as a 19-year-old stripper, the film touches the dark side of the business, but does not want to be a revealing reckoning, but just a comparatively light entertainment film.

Thanks to the good script and the convincing actors, especially a wonderfully greasy Matthew McConaughey, Soderbergh succeeds convincingly to show that you can serve light entertainment but also at a high level. Although some aspects of the story are treated too superficially - such as Mike's stripper colleagues, who all seem to be quite interesting characters - but overall the film leaves a very positive impression and a lot of good humor. In the USA this was rewarded with such a high box-office result that already now a sequel of this low budget production is loudly thought about.

So Magic Mike is altogether not only a further testimony of the versatility of Steven Soderbergh, but also for the fact that with little money and charmingly told stories really great cinema entertainment can be conjured. Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Since only a data-reduced press sample was available for the test, no rating can be given here about the final picture quality. The sound, which is available both in Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as a DTS mix, lets the dialogue come powerfully to the fore. Movement in the surround area, however, comes only through the music and here and there by smaller sound effects on.

Extras: Really stunning the bonus offer of the DVD is not. In addition to a making of with just under 7 minutes long, there is also an extended dance scene (about 3 min.), as well as a compilation of the best dance sequences (about 20 min.). The trailer in German and English, as well as other program tips of the provider close the bonus program then already.

Conclusion: Magic Mike is an entertaining milieu study, which can score with a skillful mix of comedy, drama and romance, as well as with a convincing script and good actors. When it comes to bonus material, the DVD doesn't offer much further incentive to buy, but the film alone is fully sufficient to be able to rate the DVD with a recommend

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp