This is a common warning among many that sharing custody a dog after a breakup is a terrible idea. The consensus suggests such setups hinder former couples from moving forward, cause practical headaches, lead to tension, and are a nuisance across the board. Seemingly, as a development suited to a streaming movie, it can even cause the dogs themselves to experience sadness.
While respecting the emotional well-being of our pets – many owners attest to their remarkable empathy. If you need standout portrayal in dog sorrow, simply recall another performance. It seems certain that a dog like Merv, a scruffy terrier type brought to life by Gus the Dog, would find it difficult adjusting to divided living arrangements. The idea of basing an entire Christmas romance around this situation is sustainable is debatable at best.Standard Holiday Fare
Fairness demands noting, Merv, written by Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart and directed by Jessica Swale, never aspires to be more profound than its premise. It functions as a Christmas movie from a major tech-and-media conglomerate – the ambitions remains surface-level. The narrative unfolds as straightforward: exes Russ (Charlie Cox) and Anna (Zooey Deschanel), forced to acknowledge that their post-breakup gloom is matched by their dog's, take a therapeutic trip to a canine-centric retreat. There, inevitably, they will presumably rediscover the idea that they should reunite. Side characters – featuring Chris Redd, Jasmine Mathews, and others – fulfill roles eccentric, underutilized, or over-the-top. The film's look has the quality of a streaming service original, with a wintry atmosphere that is clearly manufactured – as seen in flurries surrounding lush pines as a warm climate substitutes for the Northeast.
The Canine Charisma
Whether these predictable parts come together into a pleasant experience rests upon the execution and one's taste for cinematic comfort food. Regarding the second aspect, Merv hones in on a demographic – the kind who browse regularly for cute animal clips. The film delivers a plethora of canine-centric sequences. The primary selling point is Merv himself, and even if it causes some stilted moments between what the dog does and human reaction, the movie succeeds in showing canine party antics, canine sorrow, and, in the end, doggie joy.
Where It Wobbles
Such effectiveness cannot be applied for the romantic plot. The tone wavers between serious study, zany antics, formulaic romance, and outright slapstick, never fully committing to a single genre. This is not Charlie Cox, who is admirably committed the humiliating and funny demanded of the bizarre setting. His performance contains a endearing lack of ego that supplies the bulk of the chemistry for this seemingly ideal couple. Anna's portrayer, true to her usual style, imparts a distinctive offbeat energy that will be to your taste or not. Her Anna can feel a touch too detached, especially when paired with Cox's genuine sadness. (It should be noted, Merv himself manages flopping and whining – while no Messi from that acclaimed drama, he remains a very good boy.)
The film attempts to add substance to the central romance for sequences focusing solely on them – a regrettable choice, since the title character is by far the best part of this film designed for charm. Expectedly, it meets the bare minimum. The cause for their separation would feel more grounded and mature with less exposition and fewer direct statements. In the end, Merv is slight and sweet, hitting all its marks. Crafting a story with this canine conflict isn't a bad idea – though I wouldn't call it a great one either.
- Merv streams on the Amazon platform starting December 10.
