I Liked This Movie Better When It Was Called Boogie Nights

Sorry. Big fan of Soderbergh, but this is second-rate Boogie Nights stuff.

Now, Magic Mike is not a bad movie. I enjoyed the performances, the camera work, and the brownish look Soderbergh gave the film. None of this is a surprise, since most of Soderbergh's films have unique looks and fine acting.

But this would've been astronomically better if it was done by a pro like Paul Thomas Anderson. At least if Soderbergh and his screenwriter learned a thing or two from PTA. In Boogie Nights we cared about Dirk and Amber and Buck and Jack and everybody. Why do I care if Magic Mike gets a bank loan for his furniture business? Literally, that's a major dramatic climax in the film. Maybe if this was set up well, but we randomly find out an hour in that he wants to open his own business, it's forgotten about, then we randomly see him in a bank. Why should I care if the filmmakers didn't even care to set it up?

And the film can't even settle on a coherent point: is it a romance, an expose on male strippers, a cautionary morality tale, all of the above, or…what is it? This is the fourth film of Soderbergh's I've seen that has a serious tonal problem. It's a shame because Soderbergh is really very talented. Nothing significant or interesting happens, and frankly I didn't care what happened to these characters.

In case you're wondering, I voted this a 5, but it's teetering toward 6. (And yes, I'll probably end up seeing the sequel like most people.)