It is an often-repeated piece of advice for numerous people that jointly caring for a pet after a breakup is a recipe for trouble. Most will argue such arrangements impede individuals from finding closure, lead to scheduling chaos, spark arguments, and prove frustrating across the board. As it turns out, and in a twist fit for a streaming movie, it can even cause our furry friends to become depressed.
Without minimizing the mental health of our pets – many owners speak of their deep emotional capacity. For a prime example in canine melancholy, one need only look another performance. There is little doubt that a dog of Merv's nature, a wired-hair terrier mix portrayed by the canine actor Gus, would have a hard time adjusting to life in two homes. Whether this premise a full holiday film around this situation is sustainable remains a questionable prospect.A Familiar Formula
To its credit, Merv, crafted by the writing duo and directed by playwright Jessica Swale, makes no grand claims more profound than its premise. It functions as a Christmas movie from a major tech-and-media conglomerate – the complexity is limited. Its storyline proves to be simple and direct: a separated couple Russ (Charlie Cox) and Anna, portrayed by Zooey Deschanel, confronting that their individual funk is matched by their dog's, take a therapeutic trip to a canine-centric retreat. There, inevitably, they will surely rediscover the idea that they belong with each other. Side characters – including Chris Redd, Jasmine Mathews, and others – serve as eccentric, underutilized, or over-the-top. The film's look is reminiscent of a branded content, with a wintry atmosphere that is obviously artificial – as seen in obvious snow effects surrounding verdant foliage as a summer location substitutes for a wintery Boston.
The Dog's Domain
If these standard ingredients coalesce into a pleasant experience rests upon the actors' work and one's taste for comfort viewing. On the latter point, Merv targets a specific viewer – the kind who browse regularly for dog videos. It provides a plethora of adorable dog montages. The central draw is the canine star, and while this leads to some stilted moments between the pet's "lines" and human reaction, the movie delivers on walking sequences, dog depression, and, in the end, pure puppy happiness.
The Two-Legged Cast
The same praise is not earned for the romantic plot. The tone wavers between relationship drama, zany antics, predictable love story, and silly gags, failing to master a single genre. This is not Cox's performance, who is fully game the absurd and awkward demanded of the bizarre setting. His performance contains a endearing lack of ego that provides the bulk of the chemistry for this ostensibly perfect couple. Anna's portrayer, true to her usual style, imparts a distinctive offbeat energy that will be to your taste or not. Her Anna comes across as a little too aloof, notably when paired with Cox's heartfelt sincerity. (On another note, Merv himself succeeds in acting depressed – he may not be Messi from that acclaimed drama, he's definitely a very good boy.)
The story strives to provide depth to the central romance for moments when the dog is absent – a bit of a pity, since the dog is undoubtedly the best part of this cute-aiming movie. Expectedly, it achieves only baseline competence. The catalyst for the split might seem more nuanced with greater exploration and fewer direct statements. In the end, Merv is light and sugary, fulfilling precisely what you anticipate. Creating a movie about dog co-parenting isn't a bad idea – though I wouldn't call it a great one either.
- Merv streams on Amazon Prime Video this December.
