‘The Merry Gentlemen’ has the worst excuse for a male lead

Some movies have romantic leads you wish you could smooch. That is not the case with The Merry Gentlemen. I don’t care how much you loved Chad Michael Murray in One Tree Hill, his character in this movie is the absolute worst!

The film stars Britt Robertson as Ashley, a dancer who is let go from her Broadway show and she ends up going back home for the holidays. There, her family reveals that they are losing the bar they owned and she comes up with a plan to save it. Think Magic Mike meets a Hallmark Christmas movie. The premise of the film is cute enough but boy is there nothing I hate more than a man like Luke (Murray).

Luke’s baggage is that he moved to this small town for a girl who decided she didn’t want to be there anymore and up and left him. Fine, I understand that fear. But at one point in this movie, after flirting with Ashley for a full hour of its runtime, the two kiss. It isn’t then an established relationship, they’re still figuring it out.

But when Ashley gets asked back to her Broadway show, he reacts as if she killed his dog. I wish I was kidding. This man is SO angry that a woman wants to follow her LIFELONG dream that she ends up apologizing to him. I am so sorry but in what world is a woman going back to the life she had BEFORE a slight on you?

First of all, I don’t believe Murray can use power tools. If he can, I apologize, but this character’s entire deal is that he started his carpentry business in town and that’s why he couldn’t follow his last girlfriend. Okay!!! Every city needs someone to fix stuff, dude!

How is this a romantic lead?

Look, maybe someone wants this kind of love. Not me. I want a man who is going to be supportive of me so I can do the same for him. Luke wanted Ashley to just move home and choreograph their show and he wanted that to be enough for her. I would have taken him going to her show and apologizing and then Ashley making the decision to quit. That is at least him taking responsibility BUT this movie makes Ashley apologize to him and he makes a snarky comment about it.

I don’t think this is cute and honestly teaches a weird lesson to those watching it! You can have love, you just have to forget your own dreams and apologize to a man if your dreams hurt his feelings. Those dreams you had long before you even met him. I don’t think I will ever get over her apologizing to him for going back to a job she had that was offering her MORE MONEY.

As someone who loves a hot man, this just feels like a girl who doesn’t know what she wants with her life and a man who is using that to his advantage. So if you want to watch The Merry Gentlemen, get ready for the most frustrating man of all time.