It is an often-repeated piece of advice for numerous people that sharing custody a pet post-separation is a recipe for trouble. The consensus suggests such setups hinder former couples from finding closure, lead to scheduling chaos, spark arguments, and become annoying across the board. As it turns out, in a revelation suited to a streaming movie, it reportedly leads to our furry friends to experience sadness.
Without minimizing the inner life of our pets – pet parents observe their deep emotional capacity. If you need standout portrayal in pet despair, consider a past film. I firmly believe that a dog of Merv's nature, a wired-hair terrier mix portrayed by Gus the Dog, would have a hard time coping with split households. The idea of basing a feature-length romcom on such a setup works effectively seems a questionable prospect.Predictable Foundations
Honestly, Merv, crafted by its screenwriters and under the guidance of director Swale, makes no grand claims anything more than a light film. It functions as a seasonal offering from a streaming platform giant – the ambitions remains surface-level. The narrative unfolds as straightforward: former spouses Russ (Charlie Cox) and Anna, portrayed by Zooey Deschanel, confronting that their post-breakup gloom is rivaled only by their dog's, take a cheer-up vacation to a canine-centric retreat. At this location, predictably, they will presumably realize the idea that they are better together. The supporting cast – including Chris Redd, Jasmine Mathews, and others – serve as quirky, thinly written, or broadly comic. Its aesthetic has the quality of a platform's in-house production, with a Christmas setting that is visibly contrived – think fake snow surrounding green trees as a warm climate substitutes for a wintery Boston.
The Dog's Domain
If these predictable parts merge into an entertaining watch rests upon the strength of the performances and one's taste for easy entertainment. Regarding the second aspect, Merv knows its audience – those people who browse regularly for dog videos. It provides a wealth of canine-centric sequences. The central draw is the canine star, and even if it causes some clunky cuts between animal action and the actors' responses, the movie does offer dog beach fun, dog depression, and, in the end, pure puppy happiness.
Where It Wobbles
Such effectiveness is not earned for the romantic plot. The film's approach wavers between relationship drama, zany antics, predictable love story, and physical comedy, not quite landing a single genre. This is not Cox's performance, who is admirably committed the silliness and cringe inherent in the bizarre setting. His performance contains a endearing lack of ego that offers the bulk of the chemistry for this ostensibly perfect couple. Anna's portrayer, as is her trademark, injects a particular brand of eccentricity that will be to your taste or not. Her portrayal can feel a little too aloof, especially when paired with Cox's vulnerable performance. (It should be noted, Merv himself is convincing at acting depressed – while no the award-winner from Anatomy of a Fall, he's definitely an excellent dog.)
Merv tries to provide depth to Anna and Russ's relationship for scenes without their pet – a bit of a pity, given that the title character is by far the most adorable aspect of this feel-good picture. Unsurprisingly, it achieves only baseline competence. The reason for the split could have been more nuanced with more screen time and less blunt explanation. Ultimately, Merv is light and sugary, meeting every expected note. Crafting a story on this shared-custody premise isn't a bad idea – but I wouldn't call it a stroke of genius.
- Merv becomes available on Amazon Prime Video this December.
