The Merry Gentlemen

Ok this was alot better than I thought. The trailer made it seem like it was going to be a bad movie. But I was wrong. And to be honest I kinda tuned in for just Chad Michael Murray. I have not seen him act since the tv show One Tree Hill. And a movie he did a long time ago back in early 2000's called House of Wax and Freaky Friday. I have not seen him much in anything else. But it did feel good to see him act in a Netflix movie. And he got to dance his hotness out. I really did enjoy a PG hotness of a Christmas story. Something new that isn't the same old story but at the same time keeping it PG.

6.7 stars.

Honestly, it's the actors that kept me around for this one. First of all, I like both of the lead actors, I think they have a screen presence that really bursts. The elderly parents are well known actors too. But this narrative is weak.

You have a bunch of guys who apparently don't know how to dance, and then they become quasi strippers, in a rundown mom and pop restaurant/bar/club.

I don't know what to make of the narrative because it's somewhat unorthodox.

The lead actress's character is a Broadway dancer for about 10 years or so, and then she gets canned. But she looks like she's 28, which speaks volumes of the fickleness of the theater crowd. And then you have male lead, Luke the handyman, who helps her parents keep their bar operating.

Lead female comes home from the city because she's no longer employed, and figures she can create a male dance routine to regenerate and bring customers back into this failing business.

The dance routines are average, with a couple of real dancers, and a couple of guys who don't really know how to dance, and it just comes together in a flimsy way that fails to entertain.

But I keep watching, because I really like the two lead actors, and I would probably be suckered into viewing anything they are in anyway. Kudos to the casting it's the only thing that kept this charade going.

Frankly, leave this to Hallmark, because they know Christmas movies. I know why Hallmark wouldn't touch it; it's because the dancing was stripper adjacent.

Watched this purely because Chad Michael Murray was in it but he provides the only believable performance out of everyone involved. I like Britt but this was a terrible performance by her, wooden, she looked like someone had dragged her to the set and forced her to do this movie. There was zero chemistry between the leads which was disappointing as I love a cheesy Christmas movie with a happy ending but I couldn't enjoy the happy ending because the chemistry was not there! This missed the mark alot! Basically abs, abs and more abs, are one of the few good parts of the movie! Think my hopes were too high for this one.

I'm not sure why people go into these Christmas rom-coms expecting some kind of amazing gripping drama. These are for fun, something light hearted and entertaining, and this was exactly that. Was it corny? Sure, but all these movies are. I actually enjoy corny. The main leads had good chemistry together. I love CMM in everything and Brit Robertson is great as well. I would reccomend this for anyone who enjoys these kind of movies. Also side note: it was so random to see Maxwell Caulfield show up in this (aka Michael from grease 2), but it was really great to see him, he looks great!

Is this movie going to blow you out of the water? No. Is it fun? Yes. Did the main leads have great chemistry together? Yes. Is there a happy ending? Yes. All in all worth a watch!

In theory this is a great premise for a movie...however all I could think about was how shocking Ashley's wig was...the colour, the style, the hairline, it was as flat as this film's whole vibe.

I couldn't concentrate on anything else, if the actress had short hair at the time is it too mind blowing for the female lead in a Christmas film to have short hair? I'm so confused. Just have a bob for Christmas, it's fine. They must've had budget for a decent wig, just that styling tucked behind the ear with a bit down in front of the ear to hide the wig line. Awful - just. Awful. Enjoyed the dancing though.