The goofiest, strangest Christmas film of 2024 has already taken over Netflix, however plainly audiences are within the temper for extra festive cheer. In line with information obtained by FlixPatrol, “The Merry Gents” is the most recent holiday-themed caper to sleigh trip to the highest of the charts in america. Within the movie, Chad Michael Murray and Britt Robertson play the lovestruck protagonists who’re united by vacation magic, however there’s extra to this one than mushy, feel-good romance.
At first look, “The Merry Gentleman” echoes the spotlight-obsessed ageism that informs “The Substance,” aka this yr’s most bonkers and bloody physique horror film. Coralie Fargeat’s splatterfest film tells the story of a TV aerobics teacher who will get relieved of her duties because the community desires a youthful star on its screens. In the meantime, Peter Sullivan’s “The Merry Gents” sees Robertson’s character, Ashley, get ousted from a Broadway Christmas present in favor of a dancer who grew up admiring her.
Happily, Ashley’s firing ends in a extra constructive final result than the grisly occasions of “The Substance.” As a substitute of unleashing bloody mayhem, she hires a gaggle of hunky male dancers to placed on a present that would save her dad and mom’ arts venue from closing down. That is how she meets the lovable dancer Luke (Murray), and sparks fly between the pair. It is a traditional rom-com set-up, however “The Merry Gents” pokes enjoyable at its premise.
The Merry Gentleman is the Magic Mike of Netflix Christmas motion pictures
Katrina Marcinowski/Netflix
Admittedly, evaluating “The Merry Gents” to “The Substance” is a stretch past each movies having protagonists who lose their jobs as a result of they’re deemed too previous by age-obsessed employers. If something, the film is extra like “Magic Mike,” as Luke and different muscular hunks spend a considerable portion of the film dancing round on stage to the delight of adoring onlookers. Certain, it is not as risqué as Channing Tatum’s stripper franchise, nevertheless it’s undoubtedly influenced by it, so viewers can anticipate sufficient warmth to soften the snow.
Whereas talking to TUDUM, Chad Michael Murray revealed that they did not need to make one other rom-com. The objective of the movie is to subvert the viewers’s expectations and create one thing extra self-deprecating and out of the unusual:
“We obtained to alter issues up somewhat bit and push the envelope … We take numerous the tropes which were created for this specific style and poke enjoyable at them in such a tasteful method.”
Solely time will inform if Netflix’s vacation deal with will ultimately rank among the many finest Christmas motion pictures of all time. Nonetheless, when you’re in search of a snow-capped romance that is not afraid to start out a fireplace, you are able to do so much worse than “The Merry Gents.”