"Magic Mike"

Mike works on a building site within the daytime. He also has a dream to take his hobby into a full time profession which is designing and building his own unique style of furniture. But he also has a secret. To fund his dream his building work does not provide enough money, so to increase his financial gain he works in a club in the evenings....as a male stripper.

Looking for work at the building site one day, is Adam, a young man looking to earn some cash. Mike takes him under his wing, and looks after him. When out for a drink, Mike sees that the ladies clearly take a shine to Adam, and he wonders whether he might be interested in some extra cash, in the same way that he does. So he goes to see his boss Dallas, who runs the male Strip troupe. They try Adam out on stage, and as expected he becomes a hit, both with the audience on film, and with the Cinema audience.

There are some well executed dance routines, all performed with great style by all the male cast members. Channing Tatum clearly at home, as this was an area of work he had been involved with before turning his hand to movies. The sight of Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer stripping on screen more than enough of a reason for this viewer to watch the film, which is very entertaining.

There is a but though. It is a film of two halves, the first half looking at the guys going their routines and seeing the fun that can had, and this is where a lot of the entertainment stems from. The second half sees a much darker time, with the success that Adam has, he ends up getting involved with drugs, and his character ends up on a slippery slope, and makes for a more sombre mood. If the film had either been solely for entertainment, or showing the dangers of what excess can bring then fine, but to try and combine the two, sadly it does not work.

Tatum and Pettyfer as strippers.....what more is there to say.....6 out of 10