It is an often-repeated piece of advice for numerous people that co-parenting a dog post-separation is a recipe for trouble. The consensus suggests such arrangements impede former couples from finding closure, cause practical headaches, spark arguments, and prove frustrating across the board. As it turns out, in a revelation worthy of a streaming movie, it also makes the dogs themselves to experience sadness.
While respecting the inner life of dogs – pet parents speak of their deep emotional capacity. If you need standout portrayal in pet despair, one need only look recent cinema. I firmly believe that a dog like Merv, a wired-hair terrier mix played by a talented dog named Gus, would find it difficult adjusting to life in two homes. If this concept a feature-length romcom on such a setup works effectively seems debatable at best.Standard Holiday Fare
Fairness demands noting, Merv, written by the writing duo and directed by playwright Jessica Swale, never aspires to be more profound than a light film. We have here a holiday release from a major tech-and-media conglomerate – the complexity are modest. Its storyline is destined to be simple and direct: a separated couple 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 luxury pet hotel. There, inevitably, they will undoubtedly stumble toward the idea that they are better together. Ensemble players – including Chris Redd, Jasmine Mathews, and others – are crafted as eccentric, underutilized, or over-the-top. Visually has the quality of a branded content, with a Christmas setting that is obviously artificial – exemplified by obvious snow effects clinging to green trees as a warm climate substitutes for a wintery Boston.
The Canine Charisma
Whether these standard ingredients come together into a pleasant experience rests upon the execution and an acceptance of comfort viewing. For the comfort factor, Merv targets a specific viewer – those people who seek out for cute animal clips. Audiences receive a plethora of scenes focused on the pet. The central draw is Merv himself, and even if it causes some awkward editing between the pet's "lines" and people's faces, the movie delivers on canine party antics, pet moping, and, in the end, doggie joy.
The Human Element
This level of success is not earned for the human side of the story. Its style shifts uneasily between relationship drama, wacky comedy, predictable love story, and physical comedy, failing to master a single genre. The fault lies not with the actor playing Russ, who is admirably committed the humiliating and funny required by the unusual premise. His performance contains a charming humility that provides much of the film's charm for this ostensibly perfect couple. Anna's portrayer, true to her usual style, imparts a certain millennial quirkiness that will either resonate with viewers. Her portrayal comes across as a bit too dry, especially when contrasted against Cox's heartfelt sincerity. (On another note, the canine performer manages acting depressed – while no Messi from that acclaimed drama, he is still a very good boy.)
The film attempts to give weight to the couple's history for moments when the dog is absent – which is unfortunate, given that the title character is by far the best part of this cute-aiming movie. As one might predict, it achieves only baseline competence. The reason for their original breakup might seem more grounded and mature with greater exploration and more subtle storytelling. As it stands, Merv is slight and sweet, hitting precisely what you anticipate. Crafting a story about dog co-parenting is not terrible – even if I wouldn't call it a great one either.
- Merv becomes available on Prime Video on December 10th.
