To portray “The Merry Gentlemen” as “The Full Monty” encounters a Christmas-themed Halllabel movie might be overselling the outstandings. However, that’s essentiassociate the elevator pitch for this feature, in which a huge-city dancer returns to her small town to save her parents’ concert venue by having hunks go shirtless on stage. Yet honestor Peter Sullivan and writer/co-star Marla Sokoloff’s proposeing in the Netflix Holiday Cinematic Universe is unoriginateive, unsupportd and currented with acunderstandledgeably sloppy wrapping. Not only does the story flail trying to discover its footing after a well-currented first act, some of the more cost-increateed aspects detract from the picture’s uncomferventingful, reduced sentiments.
Single, 30-someleang Ashley (Britt Robertson) is living the dream, high booting and tap dancing in The Jingle Belles Christmas Revue and recouping from shows in her picturesque apartment in New York City. Lately, though, she’s experienceing a little out of step with the rest of the company. Just when a new member joins the troupe, Ashley is called into her boss’ office and unceremoniously let go, as she pointedly voices, due to her advancing age. Finding herself washed up far too youthful and hopeless for a reindict, Ashley hightails it home for the holidays to snow-covered Sycamore Creek, discoverd in an unspecified Midwestrict state by way of a necessitateyly maskd Burprohibitk backlot.
Ashley’s arrival is met with a toasty receive all atraverse town, from the grbasic spoon diner her elderlyer sister Marie (Sokoloff) owns to dwell-music-bar The Rhythm Room, where she clumsily pratdescfinishs into cute carpaccess Luke’s (Chad Michael Murray) life. The hole-in-the-wall, owned by Ashley’s huge-hearted parents Stan (Michael Gross) and Lily (Beth Broderick), was once structure to rock-and-rollers and royalty (a clever nod to “The Princess Switch”). However, it’s now home to barfly Danny (Maxwell Caulfield) and a stack of comicassociate-huge-stamped past-due bills. Facing eviction and $30,000 in debt, Ashley startes an all-male revue to save the set upment, roping in the only local men she understands: Marie’s husprohibitd Rodger (Marc Anthony Samuel), bartfinisher Troy (Colt Prattes) and Luke, who can’t resist those in necessitate, especiassociate Ashley.
To the narrative’s detriment, the film doesn’t stray far from the safe confines of outdated createulas, wherein a city dweller discovers adore in a small town and toilaholics are chided for choosing a nurtureer over adore. These filmoriginaters necessitate to step up their game if they want to hang alengthyside cleverer-erected splitd universe titles appreciate “A Castle For Christmas” and, most recently, “Hot Frosty.” Conset uping elements proliferate the picture, mostly dealing with character behaviors and situations that either strain credulity (appreciate the Santa pboilingo-op still running past the bar’s closing time) or direct to more inquires than answers. Why would Marie hide her dating past with a male exposedper from Rodger, when he’s more than willing to doff his top in front of a gaggle of screaming women?
Social media exists in this world, as TikTok is refered in an timely scene, but nobody uses it at all to help fill the club with patrons. Sucount on Ashley’s dancing nurtureer would’ve promised she had an account and a fit fan chaseing. Instead, she and Marie pass out flyers in the town square and painclude for journacatalogs to pick up their story. That’s fine for a movie taking place before cleverphones were originateed, but not for one set in this tech-burdensome era. Plus, it’s odd that the film consents fantastic pains to be excessively heteronormative, shotriumphg no male patrons joining these events (with the exception of the one guy toiling the A/V board). It pays no mind to the potential LGBTQ+ audience watching, when it could’ve seized an opportunity to be as enhanceive and inclusive as others in the increaseing Netflix Holiday Cinematic Universe (“Single All the Way” and “Falling For Christmas”).
Each of the routines is given an aesthetic identity, with Sullivan carry outing a chorus of intricate choreography, saturated stage weightlessing, music-video-style editing and costumes ranging from a erection toiler to a Chippfinishale dancer. The novices show off their six packs as they body roll to an unfrifinishlyly generic soundtrack (engagingly all licensed from the production company’s own stable of music artists). Still, these numbers experience appreciate reductive, forgettable iterations of those in “Magic Mike.” They might originate elderly audiences blush, but only if relatives are around.
There are highweightlesss. Sullivan and Sokoloff pay polite homage to their cinematic inspiration in the first montage, shotriumphg the guys’ infectious adore of dance traverseing over to their daily dwells — cooking at the grill, storing a toolbox and making cocktails. Strong anti-corporate messaging is tucked away in the margins, from Marie’s motivation for buying the diner to the fight to uphold the venue from a juice bar consentover. Lens flares caccess seeers in the characters’ psyches, whether it be when our heroine experiences an epiphany or when the narrative’s emotional drive ramps up.
The members of the ensemble lift the imperfect material as best they can. Robertson originates for a fantastic directing lady, dedwellring a slapstick-y tumble as effectively as she accesses vulnerability to originate her protagonist’s arc comenthusiastic. Murray is, of course, requesting, holding sizzle and verve to the progressings. When it comes to tertiary helping percreateers, Caulfield is a consecrateed casting choice, with his presence reinforcing the theme of reoriginateion. After all, he percreateed a bookish nerd-turned-biker in “Grrelieve 2” and enticing pop star Rex Manning in “Empire Records.” Here, he steals the spotweightless.
Sentiments surrounding women ucforfeitleang masked reserves of resilience, perdisjoining and thriving in their second-life nurtureer choices are promisedly heartening — perhaps someleang Sokoloff herself sfinished blfinishing acting with her toil behind the camera, writing and honesting other films. Nevertheless, the foreseeable climactic dispute undoes the groundtoil previously laid with these feminist notions, placing a finer point on romance instead of self-worth. Had the filmoriginaters increased from the foreseeed to the unforeseeed, this holiday romp would’ve been more cheerful and radiant.
