Metrograph

Perhaps the closest a recent Hollywood film has come to the classical structure of the American movie musical, Magic Mike XXL trades in the original’s vague undercurrent of desperation for boundless cheerful humor, focusing on the pleasures of male camaraderie and the importance of female pleasure. Hoping to get their mojo back, Mike (Channing Tatum) and his buff brothers-in-arms—the reigning Kings of Tampa and its storied strip club scene—hit the road to travel to an industry convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, along the way working their magic on a succession of women of all stripes and, of course, on us. Highlights include a randy Andie MacDowell, a take-charge Jada Pinkett Smith, and Joe Manganiello’s impromptu convenience store striptease, set to the strains of the Backstreet Boys.

Distributor: Warner Bros.