Aahana Swrup
Peter Sullivan’s holiday romance film ‘The Merry Gentlemen’ invites the viewers for a tale of small-town magic and suggestive entertainment. The story revolves around Ashley Davis, a Broadway dancer who straps in for a bleak Christmas after unceremoniously getting fired from her job. As a result, she takes a break from city life and visits her parents—only to learn that they’re on the brink of losing their Rhythm Room, a family-owned performing arts center. Consequently, she decides to breathe new life into the establishment. With the help of local carpenter Luke, who has a soft spot for the Rhythm Room, Ashley puts on evening productions of “The Merry Gentlemen,” an all-male dance revue. Inevitably, the unexpected journey might just bring an unforeseen change into the ex-Broadway dancer’s life.
The film offers all the seasonally appropriate cheesy romance and familial meddling mixed in with an unexpected journey to self-discovery through unique burlesque dance performances. Even so, despite all its heightened eccentricities, Ashley’s story remains ripe with relatable and grounded passion, creativity, and the thrill of Christmastime hope.
The Merry Gentlemen is a Fictional Yuletide Rom-Com
‘The Merry Gentlemen’ is a playful romantic comedy that leans into the clichés of the holiday season and delivers an unexpected narrative about finding a new perspective on life. Predictably, the film is not based on a true story, rendering its characters and events fictitious concoctions created by Jeffrey Schenck and Peter Sullivan with a screenplay by Marla Sokoloff. The story revolves around a city girl returning to her hometown and unexpectedly finding a channel for her passion. Fortunately enough, the opportunity brings a chance at love for her and the friendliest face in town.
The story comfortably exists within its identity as a Christmas romantic comedy, incorporating nods to several clichés and tropes within its narrative. Nevertheless, it also flips some of these tropes on their head to deliver a surprising yet familiar tale to the audience. As such, Ashley remains an ideal lead for the genre while also standing out on her own. Throughout the film, the viewers follow the professional dancer, utilizing her talent in a way she had never done before. In doing so, she also inspires passion and creativity in her town, rekindling everyone’s love for the arts.
As a result, the story’s central search for an untapped zest for life remains its most significant source of relatability. On the other hand, the bantering relationship between Ashley and Luke drives the story forward, as everyone—from the townsfolk to the audience—consistently root for the couple’s happy ending. Thus, the film equips these various fictitious elements to chart its tale of the importance of self-discovery through leaps of faith. Ultimately, although the film remains entirely fictitious, it also presents an entertaining narrative, perfectly fitting into the familiarity of its genre.
The On-Screen Merry Men Partook in Extensive Off-Screen Dance Preparation
The all-male Christmas-themed dance revue remains the central and most defining aspect of ‘The Merry Gentlemen.’ In the film, as Ashley takes in the steady downward trajectory of her family’s business, she decides to stir things up with regular, tasteful erotic entertainment catered toward the female gaze. As a result, Luke—and a handful of other attractive men from the town—are recruited into the titular dance troupe. Naturally, this means dancing remained a crucial aspect of the film.
Chad Michael Murray—who plays Luke—and a number of other actors, including Marc Anthony Samuel, Colt Prattes, and others, wanted to ensure their portrayal of dance performers remains as realistic as possible. For the same reason, the cast members participated in weeks of dance rehearsals before filming. Murray discussed the same in a conversation with Tudum.
The actor said, “If you’re going to do it (the dancing sequences in the film), you got to do it right. You got to go all in. All the guys were awesome. There was definitely a bond there. Everybody just helped each other up. And everyone else had a different gift to give to the film.” Consequently, Murray and the other actors formed a chemistry and a bond that seamlessly became reflective in the dynamic between their on-screen characters. Ultimately, the commitment to authentically nailing the physicality of the characters contributes to the sense of realism within the fictional story.
