The Merry Gentlemen Parent Guide

Ashley (Britt Robertson) is living her childhood dream as a Jingle Belle dancer on Broadway, until she is suddenly let go in favor of younger, perkier talent. With only weeks before Christmas, Ashley decides to go visit her parents in her hometown of Sycamore Creek where she soon learns that her parents are weeks away from losing the Rhythm Room, a performance venue and bar that they’ve owned Ashley’s whole life.

Determined not to let her parents lose their dream as she lost hers, Ashley decides to put together an all-male Christmas-themed revue to boost sales by recruiting a few local men, including handyman Luke (Chad Michael Murray).

I’m going to cut right to the chase: this movie is terrible, and I loved it so much. I was giggling, gasping, and smiling the entire runtime. Did I see every single line of dialogue and plot point coming a mile away? Absolutely. Was this film essentially just a pile of clichés and tropes thrown at the wall in the hope that Chad Michael Murray’s jawline would be so distracting that no one would notice? It is, and it was. This production knows exactly what it is, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. It’s corny, clichéd, and ridiculous, and that’s all it needs to be.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t address the elephant in the room - the monstrosity of a wig on Britt Robertson’s head. I was staring at it throughout the entire runtime, trying to figure out how a professional hair artist could possibly have put it into the world. Maybe someone had a grudge against Robertson, or maybe the production ran out of money after buying all the Christmas lights and had to make do with whatever they could find at the local dollar store. It is a mystery that will remain with me until the end of time. It doesn’t help that Robertson is a terrible actor, so maybe the bad wig is fitting.

The rest of the acting is awful too, which is a common problem in this genre. The exception is Chad Michael Murray who is a better actor that anyone else by miles. None of the characters have much going for them as far as personality, backstory, or motivation, but that’s to be expected in this genre. The entire point of this film is to see some sexy men dance with their shirts off and then two conventionally attractive people kiss in front of a Christmas tree. It’s not much, but it’s exactly what you’ll get.

On that note, this film is far less sexy than I expected. At a PG rating it’s a far cry from Magic Mike. I still wouldn’t show it to the kids, but I do think there’s an audience that wants just a teensy bit of spice on their holiday romances and will appreciate the relative tameness of what could have been an overtly sexual film. The dancing is wholly unimpressive which I found hilarious and really adds to the tongue in cheek tone.

If you are a Hallmark-style Christmas romance fan and you got excited by the plot synopsis you will probably love this movie like I did. If you are literally anyone else, I suggest you look elsewhere for some holiday cheer.