Magic Mike XXL: How to Make a Woman Smile

It's hard to even contemplate watching Magic Mike XXL without giggling. It's a movie about a bunch of male strippers going to Myrtle Beach for an annual stripper convention. There's nothing serious about this plot. And yet the reason this is a good movie is that it has such straightforward ambition. It wants to make you smile, laugh, and enjoy yourself. And it fully succeeds in doing so.

The second sentence of this review has already given away the entire plot. Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, and Kevin Nash get together, sit in a van, and go on a road trip. Along the way, they have some adventures that involve honing their craft with gleeful abandon in assorted venues. While Magic Mike was a more serious story about a man who is fed up with the stripping game and eventually chucks it all to start a furniture business, Magic Mike XXL is a look at the camaraderie and joy that can be associated with this ridiculous enterprise. At the beginning of the movie, there is a splendid scene where we see Channing Tatum dance by himself in his furniture workshop. It is a meticulously choreographed piece of art, one that immediately tells you how much pleasure this man takes in movement, and how he needs this one last adventure before he returns to respectability.

The rest of the movie follows in that same vein. All of these men know that this will be their final show, and therefore, they wax philosophical about what it is that stripping means to them. In one immensely memorable scene, they dare Big Dick Richie (Manganiello, in probably his least subtly named role) to walk into a convenience store and do anything to make the glum-looking cashier smile. It's a fun and surprisingly sweet moment and highlights that this is no misogynist enterprise. It seems odd to call a movie starring five dudes a "women's picture," but that is ultimately what it becomes. These men love what they do because it makes women happy, and that's the only goal.

There are some fun cameos from fantastic actresses like Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Andie MacDowell. They all have very different relationships with these men, but they all get along famously and collaborate as true equals to get the show on the road. And of course, every single performance is a well-honed delight. The story may be silly, but these performances are taken incredibly seriously. Every actor delivers to the best of their abilities, none more so than Channing Tatum. After watching Magic Mike XXL, I can't say I have any desire to actually participate in such an event in real life (the way some of the women get thrown around during a performance seems guaranteed to give me a hernia), but I am glad I got to watch it on screen. Sure it's sexy, but mostly, it's enormously entertaining, good-hearted, and guaranteed to make you smile.