Magic Mike XXL (2015)

Seeing this movie, as we did, in a packed house of rowdy women is the best way to enjoy this lightly plotted beef-fest about strippers making a comeback. Jack was a good sport (I saw one other man) and said he did enjoy the music (here's a list). Jodi formed a moms' movie club for her and her friends to get away while their husbands stay home with the kids and we joined her two and half weeks ago for a preview screening. I just read the first sentence above to Jack and he added that "lightly plotted" is generous.

The 2012 original Magic Mike wasn't bad, directed as it was by Steven Soderbergh (last linked to previous work in Haywire, although Side Effects came out after and was in the same post as the old Magic Mike). Soderbergh did shoot and edit both, and Reid Carolin wrote both, but directing duties this time went to Gregory Jacobs (new to me).

The guys all return, led by Channing Tatum (last blogged in Foxcatcher), and are surprisingly humorless, though Tatum smirks a fair amount. A few new characters join the cast but, really, this isn't good.

As the trailers were playing, one woman yelled, "Bring on the men!" The gals around us hooted and hollered as the studs gyrated, so it was kind of low-brow fun, but now, I think, the hootin' and hollerin' will have died down, so save your money. You can read these spoilers instead if you like. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are more generous than we, averaging 64% and 68% respectively. It was sixth at the box office last weekend, with 21 new screens added, so some people are clearly happy with it. Jodi's movie club now includes husbands and friends and caters to brows both high and low.