Merry Gentlemen Review: A Flat ‘X-Mas Romance Meets Magic Mike’
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The 2024 film The Merry Gentlemen starts with what is supposed to be a Christmas-themed dance show called Jingle Belles on Broadway, but the choreography makes it look like a school function number performed by primary kids—the kind only the relatives or parents of participants would enjoy watching. Perhaps the creators were aiming for something like the Jingle Bell Rock number from Mean Girls, but it’s nowhere near as entertaining or funny.
Britt Robertson plays Ashley, a lead Broadway dancer who is fired and replaced by a much younger talent just days before Christmas. Already struggling financially, Ashley heads home after years and learns that her parents’ business—a performance venue—is in trouble. To save it from shutting down, she organizes an all-male revue to raise funds. Ashley persuades local hunk Luke (Chad Michael Murray) to team up with her, a ‘nice young sing man’ who usually helps her parents with their plumbing issues. What unfolds next is a formulaic Hallmark Christmas romance meets Magic Mike. Sort of.
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Here’s the problem: in trying to cater to two major genres—a festive Christmas romance and theatrical dances featuring shirtless men—The Merry Gentlemen ends up delivering neither a compelling love story nor the kind of expertly choreographed dance routines that would leave you thrilled. Remember The “Step Up” movies? They may have lacked strong plots, but at least they made up for it with spectacularly choreographed dances. To be fair, some of the dance scenes are fun to watch, but the exaggerated media attention they receive in the story feels far too unrealistic.
Brit Roberston and Chad Michael Murray make a good-looking onscreen couple, however, that barely makes “The Merry Gentlemen” entertaining. I don’t mind the familiar story of a big-city girl returning to her small town, helping her parents’ struggling business, and falling in love; however, the script needed a lot more punch! The climactic twists are far too predictable, making this a title worth exploring only if you’re in the mood for a generic Christmas romance or some eye candy with shirtless men dancing.
Rating: 4 on 10. The movie is on Netflix.
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