This is a widely held belief for numerous people that co-parenting a pet following a split is ill-advised. Most will argue such arrangements prevent ex-partners from healing, cause practical headaches, lead to tension, and are a nuisance across the board. As it turns out, in a revelation worthy of a direct-to-platform film, it reportedly leads to the dogs themselves to feel down.
Without minimizing the inner life of dogs – countless people speak of their deep emotional capacity. If you need standout portrayal in canine melancholy, consider recent cinema. There is little doubt that a dog such as Merv, a spirited little dog played by a talented dog named Gus, would have a hard time adapting to split households. Whether this premise an entire Christmas romance on this conflict is sustainable is debatable at best.Standard Holiday Fare
Fairness demands noting, Merv, the work of Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart and directed by Jessica Swale, never aspires to be more profound than what it is. It functions as a holiday release from a corporate studio – the complexity is limited. The narrative unfolds as simple and direct: exes Russ, played by Charlie Cox and Anna (Zooey Deschanel), forced to acknowledge that their individual funk is matched by their dog's, embark on a cheer-up vacation to a luxury pet hotel. Once there, as expected, they will presumably stumble toward the idea that they belong with each other. The supporting cast – including familiar faces – are crafted as quirky, thinly written, or broadly comic. Visually carries the feel of a platform's in-house production, with a Christmas setting that is visibly contrived – exemplified by flurries clinging to green trees as a summer location stands in for a cold December city.
The Dog's Domain
How these standard ingredients merge into something enjoyable rests upon the execution and the viewer's appetite for comfort viewing. On the latter point, Merv knows its audience – those people who scroll endlessly for cute animal clips. It provides a series of scenes focused on the pet. The primary selling point is the dog, and even if it causes some awkward editing between animal action and human reaction, the movie delivers on dog beach fun, pet moping, and, finally, a tail-wagging resolution.
The Human Element
The same praise does not extend for the human side of the story. Its style vacillates between relationship drama, zany antics, formulaic romance, and physical comedy, failing to master any one mode. This is not the actor playing Russ, who is fully game the humiliating and funny inherent in the dog resort scenario. His performance contains a endearing lack of ego that supplies the bulk of the chemistry for this on-the-rocks couple. Zooey Deschanel, as is her trademark, injects a particular brand of eccentricity that will click for some but not others. The character can feel a little too aloof, notably when paired with Cox's vulnerable performance. (For what it's worth, Merv himself is convincing at acting depressed – he may not be Messi from that acclaimed drama, he remains a scene-stealer.)
Merv tries to provide depth to the central romance for sequences focusing solely on them – a regrettable choice, given that the title character is by far the cutest element of this film designed for charm. Expectedly, it achieves only baseline competence. The reason for the split would feel more nuanced with more screen time and more subtle storytelling. In the end, Merv is gentle and pleasant, meeting all its marks. Making a film about dog co-parenting is not terrible – even if it's hardly a stroke of genius.
- Merv streams on the Amazon platform on December 10th.
