A Tale of Two Films: “Magic Mike” and “Savages”
One of my best friends, Cortney and I had a movie-going Friday night and saw a double feature - Magic Mike, which I had been anticipating because, you know, I’m a warm-blooded woman and the thought of a movie showcasing hot male strippers is both attractive and hilarious to me, and Savages, the latest (and my first) film from legendary director Olivier Stone. These two were also on my list on what to look out for this summer. I would like to confess here that yes, we did only pay for Magic Mike and movie hopped to Savages. Cortney introduced me to this last year and if we are ever caught, she is the one I’m blaming. I’m a good girl so only a big, corrupting force would ever persuade me to do something like that ::sly smile:: Anyway, on to the mini-reviews…
Do See: Magic Mike (Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughy, Joe Manganiello, Adam Rodriguez)… especially if you like seeing attractive men in various state of undress. Serious, this movie is a must see if only to witness female movie-goers cat-calling like they were ACTUALLY in a strip club. I liked the movie because it was fun, even when it tried to be a untold tale of the unglamorousness world of male stripping (you know, the drug use, body issues, vanity, the corruption of fast money… the penis pumps). The movie follows two guys - “Magic” Mike (Tatum), a guy who has been in the game for six years but whose true passion is designing and making furniture (yes, really) and Adam “The Kid” who Mike gets introduces into the stripper world and mentors him to be a star performer. The fun moments come when we see snippets of the cast of characters that make up the elite dancers of the Tampa strip club. Through glimpses into wardrobe changes (uhh, strippers sow their own thongs?!?) and different costumes and characters (I will never look at a firemen or policeman the same way again), I laughed so hard I cried alittle. Not one of Tatum’s best turns as an actor though and the less romantic spin they introduced with Adam’s sister did nothing for me, but I enjoyed the movie nevertheless. The MVP award goes to Matthew McConaughey would was so great as the ex-dancer turned strip club owner Dallas. Dallas took himself so seriously it made for some great moments on screen. His outfit in the above picture says it all. I have seen many articles (though I haven’t read them) discussing how men would also enjoy this movie but I dare anyone to try to get their boyfriends into this one; I was alittle embarrassed for them. But in the best way possible.
Don’t See: Savages (Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek) I don’t have a ton of experience with Olivier Stone movies and so not a big fan of his work (this may be strange but he doesn’t exactly dabble in my film genres of choice) so I may be in the minority here on my thoughts about this film as I was not too impressed. Savages is a film meant to shock, disgust, and dismay (as I have heard is little bit of Oliver Stone’s style). Based on the book by Don Winslow, the movie follows an independent mary jane business headed by best friends, the pacifist Ben (Aaron Johnson) and the militant Chon (Taylor Kitsch), which becomes in jeopardy when a big time Mexican cartel lead by the widow Elena (Salma Hayek) moves in and want to take over. Since Ben and Chon do not comply with their requests, the cartel’s enforcer (Benicio del Toro) kidnap the guys’ shared girlfriend “O” (short for Ophelia, played by Black Lively) and holds her hostage. With the help of the local DEA agent the guys have in their pockets (John Travolta), they scheme to get her back. Explosions, guns, and gangster bravado really does nothing for me as a movie watcher; What I was really intrigued me enough to see this movie was the three-way romantic relationship between the main characters - Ben, John, and Ophelia. I was more interested how these people fit into each others lives and complete each other in a way to make this relationship work. The film only hints at their dependency on each other; I wish it would have done more in order for me to care more about these characters and really invest in their plights. Disappointingly Blake Lively didn’t bring that same special something to her role as O as I was hoping for; she was more from Serena from “Gossip Girl” than Krista from The Town. The best part of the movie was Benicio del Toro who gave new meaning to the term sadist and always seems to deliver in my opinion. Oh, and I hear that somebody thought it was a good idea to change the movie ending. If anything, I wish I would have read the book and skipped the movie, which I sure was better written and more exploratory on the characters. Uma Thurman should be happy that she was edited out of this one.
To me, Jeremy Renner is just plain exceptional. I first took notice of him in a couple of independent movies only a few years ago, but already he has joined the ranks of Leo DiCaprio, 
