It’s tough to critique a film like Netflix’s The Merry Gentlemen. This is Netflix’s take on the Hallmark-style holiday movie—a genre people eagerly consume during the festive season. Films like this are typically positive, warm, and unabashedly manipulative. In short, they go down like eggnog: light, comforting, and undeniably saccharine.
You can’t exactly tear The Merry Gentlemen to shreds because it’s not trying to compete with cinematic masterpieces like Oppenheimer. This movie is made for a specific audience: those who prefer their entertainment with minimal substance, filling a void during the holiday season.
While that doesn’t make this Chad Michael Murray-led film broadly recommendable, it certainly delivers for fans of the genre.
The Merry Gentlemen Review and Synopsis
I call this a Chad Michael Murray vehicle, even though he’s not the main character, because he spends the most time walking around and taking off his Brawny flannel shirt as a holiday gift for all to see. Frankly, since we are around the same age, I’d go to work without a shirt during a blizzard if I were that cut.
Murray plays Luke, a local handyman who meets Ashley (Britt Robertson), a laid-off Broadway dancer visiting her family for Christmas. Luke is helping with some odd jobs around the Rhythm Room, a local establishment that is a staple in town. However, like most service industry businesses, Ashley’s parents (Michael Gross and Beth Broderick) have fallen on tough times.
After Ashley notices the sex appeal of Luke, the previous job history of her sister Marie’s (Marla Sokoloff) husband Rodger (Marc Anthony Samuel), and the Tom Cruise Cocktail-like moves of part-time bartender Troy (Colt Prattes), she comes up with the idea of a local “male revue” to raise $30,000. Why? Because if they don’t, the town will lose the Rhythm Room forever!
Netflix’s The Merry Gentlemen Is Exactly What You Think It’s Going to Be.
I mean, I think the town would probably prefer a nice Starbucks or a half-decent fast-food joint like McDonald’s, but everyone’s tastes are different.
The Merry Gentlemen feels like a throwback as if someone dusted off an unpublished Hallmark script to cash in on a streaming payday. There’s no real need for dive bars with musical acts when any karaoke bar would suffice. That being said, it’s not necessarily bad that The Merry Gentlemen is precisely what you expect it to be.
This is a positive because many scripts try to be more than they are and fall short. Sokoloff, who wrote the script, allows the characters to poke fun at the genre without biting the hand that feeds them. The characters have excellent family chemistry, which is satisfying because they genuinely care about each other.
Is Netflix’s The Merry Gentlemen Worth Watching?
However, while this is a vehicle for Murray, he and Robertson have very little chemistry. Frankly, their performances lack heat, which could have helped spice up the mundane holiday themes. Robertson does what she can in a role that is essentially the “straight woman,” but it’s primarily a thankless part.
That said, Murray has found a niche in a second career as a heartthrob and seems to excel in it. Like last year’s Brooke Shields vehicle, Mother of the Bride, Murray has a natural charisma that is hard to deny on screen. He also brings a much-needed vulnerability to the role, even if the subplot is dripping with melodrama.
For this reviewer, The Merry Gentlemen is not worth watching unless you’re a diehard fan of the genre or Chad Michael Murray—or if combining male strippers with some good old-fashioned holiday Hallmark goodness is your thing. There is some humor, and you won’t be bored, but ultimately, the plot’s predictability and overall issues are too significant to overlook.
You can stream The Merry Gentlemen only on Netflix on November 20th.
The Merry Gentlemen Review — Netflix’s Swing at the Hallmark Genre Has Few Surprises
For this reviewer, The Merry Gentlemen is not worth watching unless you’re a diehard fan of the genre or Chad Michael Murray—or if combining male strippers with some good old-fashioned holiday Hallmark goodness is your thing. There is some humor, and you won’t be bored, but ultimately, the plot’s predictability and overall issues are too significant to overlook.
