Imagine a brassier, bolder, glitzier THE FULL MONTY shelving Sheffield, England for Tampa, Florida and you have an idea of MAGIC MIKE.

Based loosely on the experiences of Channing Tatum who plays the titular character, it’s about a band of boy disrobers, all male revue, a virtual pay for view, who titillate women of all ages by stripping and dry humping their way through raunchy musical routines.

The troupe is led by Dallas, a real carney, played in uber exuberance mode by Matthew McConnaghy. His dream is to take his strippers into the stratosphere.

Magic Mike has a protégé, a young feller who shows a flair for flagrante, played by Alex Pettyfer. This should serve as calling card for better things as it should for Cody Horn who plays his sister, who Magic Mike takes a magic like to.

Written by Reid Carolin, director Steven Soderbergh steers the picture in a quite relaxed fashion, allowing a sense of freedom in dialogue and delivery, which for the most part, works quite well. Shooting the picture under his nom de plume, Peter Andrews, and cutting it under the pseudonym of Mary Anne Bernard, Stevie Three Hats has created quite a freewheeling spin on the subculture of male strippers, with subplots of drug abuse, group sex and other excesses.

Botox, buttocks, boobs and nude dudes – not as cheerful as THE FULL MONTY or as edgy as BOOGIE NIGHTS – but worth a look, or a peek, just the same.

© Richard Cotter

Tags: Sydney Movie Reviews- MAGIC MIKE, Channing Tatum, Matthew McConnaghy, Reid Carolin, Stevn Soderbergh, Sydney Arts Guide, Richard Cotter