Magic Mike - C+

Rated R, 110 minutes

Firm bods, flimsy story highlight the uneven "Magic Mike"

Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer in "Magic Mike"

The G-strings in the new male stripper film "Magic Mike" hold up plenty, except for the weak story that drags down an otherwise charming, beefcake-filled and estrogen-geared flick. "Magic Mike" is directed by Oscar-winning director in Steven Soderbergh and is loosely based on the life of actor Channing Tatum ("The Vow"), who headlines the film. The movie follows Mike (Tatum) as he takes a young, inexperienced dancer off the streets named Adam the Kid (Pettyfer) under his wing and schools him in the fine arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money. Story? Characters? Not so much here but one thing is for sure, there's plenty of eye candy in the uneven but pleasant "Magic Mike," which is likely enough for most. Besides Tatum and Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey appears as the strip club owner, aptly named Dallas, along with Matt Bomer, William Levy and "True Blood's" Joe Manganiello. However, no pun intended (well, maybe), when you strip away the beefcake, there's little meat to the plot or characters, which may not come as a huge surprise. The film's initial sections work best and the most fun, as Mike (with some interesting help from McConaughey, in the film's best scene) schools young Adam on the fine art of stripping, before it meanders in the darker, drug-fueled second half and leading to an unsatisfying ending. Soderbergh is typically a strong director, but with "Magic Mike" his direction is merely serviceable though the thin material may be the real problem. While he handles the actors well, with Tatum in particular giving one of his stronger, least bland performances to date, he falters in bringing the story to a satisfying conclusion but in his favor the film would've been a lot worse with an inexperienced director. I did want to see more of the women, especially the lovely Olivia Munn ("Iron Man 2"), but she and Cody Horn are (perhaps understandably) underused here. "Magic Mike" does a memorable striptease on the surface, though it falters in bringing to light what's really underneath. Worth it if you like this sort of thing.