And not just any kind of lust. It will be the face-flushing, shriek-inducing, squirm-in-your-seat kind that results when Velcro-seamed slacks are ripped off and flung by near-naked beefy slabs of men dressed in macho drag as firemen, doctors, soldiers, cops and even Tarzan.
A typical anticipatory tweet among thousands since the project was announced in April 2011 comes courtesy of @GymGirl_Probz: "I can't even express in words how bad I need to see #magicmike … probably because I can't stop drooling." That kind of heavy-panting word of mouth was a major reason why G.I. Joe: Retaliationâ€" the sequel to a 2009 action hit that also features Magic Mike's main attraction, Channing Tatum, and was supposed to open today â€" switched dates to next year.
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The gyration-generated heat sparked by the tall, tanned and defoliated cast of Magic Mike, a male stripper odyssey that gender-bends Flashdance into Flashpants, just might be intense enough to ignite that nasty faux-butter substance atop your barrel of popcorn. Especially since, if a survey by ticket-sale site Fandango is to be lieved, 87% of women who responded plan to attend with a group of gal pals â€" presumably rowdy and raring to party.
Even critics of both male and female varieties are tossing out compliments like so many crumpled dollar bills. When last checked, Rottentomatoes.com reported a positive rating of close to 80%, slightly higher than summer blockbusters Brave and Prometheus.
Such a potentially combustible situation calls for a closer examination. On the line for a conference call are Magic Mike's two prime provocateurs of unbridled passion: rising star and producer Tatum, 32, whose four-month stint as an exotic dancer while in Tampa in his late teens inspired the script; and 2005's Sexiest Man Alive, Matthew McConaughey, 42, whose career has enjoyed a midlife resurgence with no fewer than five films this year as well as an HBO series in the works.
What are they wearing?
Alas, these handsome devils can be heard but sadly not seen after a joint Skype session was scrapped. But they insist they are both sporting Magic Mike thongs during the interview.
"That is completely the case," insists Tatum, who plays the title character and is the revue's alpha disrober. "Matthew was kind enough to start a thong fund for me and raised $168. I have a new one on today and am breaking it in."
"Not me," McConaughey says in his down-and-dirty Texas drawl, which is used to good effect in his role as Dallas, a former stripper turned wild-eyed club owner, flamboyant emcee and hustler. "I put on Old Faithful, a thong with tassels. So I can do the rattlesnake dance."
OK then.
It is slightly suspicious that McConaughey decided to marry his sweetheart of five years and mother of his two children, Brazilian beauty Camila Alves, so close to the film's arrival. Did his bride, who briefly balked at his proposal, want to make their union legal before Magic Mike mania struck?
Tatum, who got hitched to his Step Up lov e interest, Jenna Dewan, in 2009, pipes up: "I'm completely going to forever claim I did this. I got them married."
McConaughey concurs. "He is responsible," he says â€" Tatum originated the idea for the movie and brought onboard his Haywire director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, the Ocean's Eleven trilogy). "He put a man onstage," McConaughey says, lapsing into preacher mode as he refers to himself in the third person, "and showed his beauty to the world. Camila wrote out the wedding invitations the next day."
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As payback, he says, "Channing is in the will." And what will he get? "Another new thong."
Perhaps surprisingly given the subject matter, there is a respected A-list director at the helm. Soderbergh, 49, whose eclectic résumé ranges from the obscure (1991's Kafka) to the mainstream (2000's Erin Brockovich), was immediately drawn to Magic Mike's colorful milieu with its reflection of the economic downturn. But he also was determined to handle the story straightforwardly, opting for low-key naturalism rather than over-the-top showbiz campiness, à la Showgirls.
"I like things t hat feel real," he says, speaking by phone from his L.A.-area home. "I was very conscious not to make it sleazy or mean-spirited. I think people will be surprised by how sweet it is and how generous it is toward its characters. This is not putdown humor. Most people don't want to be around that, including me."
But Soderbergh â€" like many moviegoers lately â€" definitely wants to be around Tatum. So much so that it seems as if the filmmaker is grooming him to replace George Clooney, a headliner in six of his features, as his preferred leading man. A third collaboration with Tatum, the psycho-pharmaceutical thriller The Bitter Pill, already is in the wings for release next year.
"Channing is so appealing," Soderbergh says. "You sense a real sincerity in him. He knew thi s character so well. He exhibits a strength in this we haven't seen before."
The director also admires his choices so far. "He has set up a good situation for himself. Anybody who hangs out with him knows Channing has a great sense of humor, and he's shown he can be funny in 21 Jump Street as well as handle a gun and kiss the girl."
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The second perso n hired for Magic Mike was McConaughey. "I called him on the phone, described the role in one sentence, and he said he was in," Soderbergh says of the free-spirited actor who broke out in the 1993 high school comedy Dazed and Confused. "Matthew came in with lots of ideas," including a blatant reference to his infamous nude bongo-playing session from 1999. As a result, "he just owned it. Everybody who came out of an early screening for friends, the first thing they said was, 'Oh, my God, Matthew is crazy in this.' "
Or, as the actor himself describes it: "I came in with loaded guns. The word 'no' never came out of Steven's mouth."
Tatum and McConaughey initially bonded in New Orleans. "He answered the door with a shiner on one eye from a wrestling match," Tatum recalls. "I thought, 'I'm going to like this guy.' " Sealing the deal was how quickly he and Alves agreed to join Tatum for their first visit to a male strip club. "I thought, 'Cool.' "
The experience proved to be an invaluable reality check for McConaughey. "I really thought the club would be in the hottest area of the city," he says. "But it wasn't on Bourbon Street. It was in a strip mall next to a crawfish joint and laudromat."
What appeared to be three average guys hanging out, including a lawyer and a family man on military leave, were actually the performers for the night. "Not everyone does it as their primary job," he observes. "They get out of work and then go dance to get their own rocks off, fulfilling the fantasies of the women as well as their own."
The clientele was a lso a revelation. "A group came in with a soon-to-be-married lady with a tiara on her head. You just knew she was saving up a long time for this big night out."
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Adds Tatum: "Women come to party and to embarrass each other. All laws, all rules are off. The world is left behind the doors. It's so far in the rear-view mirror, it's not even accessible."
Reality and fiction
Tatum, whose dancing skills and physical attributes are visual dy namite on-screen, makes it clear that what goes on in Magic Mike, at least offstage, is mostly fictionalized. (Although much like his character, he did sow more than a few wild oats: "It's a benefit any normal 18-year-old kid would capitalize on.")
"If we put what actually happened in a movie, it would be unwatchable and bizarre," he says. After some balking, he coughs up an example: "Eight guys in a U-Haul van literally driving up to South Carolina for a convention with sleeping bags and stuff. I mean, why not just drive cars?"
A few quick revelations from Tatum before the curtain comes down:
Are male dancers ever in danger of becoming overly aroused while performing? "No, it never gets that intimate. There is too much going on in the middle of a crazy show to get personal."
What is the most in tips he ever made in one night? "Usually it's about $150. But at the stripper convention, it was close to $2,000."
Waxing or shaving? "Back in the day, I just shaved." But for the movie, "I just waxed."
If a man sneaks into the theater and suddenly gets the urge to become a stripper, what advice would you give? "Get a good thong," Tatum suggests. "You just know when you found the right one.
"Kind of like Harry Potter and his wand. The thong picks you. You don't pick it."
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