It is a widely held belief for numerous people that sharing custody a pet post-separation is a recipe for trouble. The consensus suggests such setups hinder ex-partners from moving forward, create logistical nightmares, lead to tension, and prove frustrating for everyone involved. Apparently, and in a twist worthy of a streaming movie, it also makes the dogs themselves to experience sadness.
While respecting the emotional well-being of animals – many owners observe their remarkable empathy. If you need prime example in canine melancholy, one need only look another performance. It seems certain that a dog of Merv's nature, a wired-hair terrier mix portrayed by Gus the Dog, would struggle coping with split households. Whether this premise an entire Christmas romance around this situation holds water is a questionable prospect.Standard Holiday Fare
To its credit, Merv, the work of Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart and directed by director Swale, makes no grand claims deeper than a light film. This is a Christmas movie from a corporate studio – the complexity are modest. The narrative is destined to be straightforward: former spouses Russ (Charlie Cox) and Anna (Zooey Deschanel), confronting that their post-breakup gloom is matched by their dog's, embark on a therapeutic trip to a luxury pet hotel. There, inevitably, they will surely rediscover the idea that they belong with each other. The supporting cast – including a group of comedic actors – serve as quirky, thinly written, or broadly comic. Visually has the quality of a branded content, with a holiday backdrop that is clearly manufactured – exemplified by flurries surrounding lush pines as a summer location doubles as the Northeast.
The Dog's Domain
Whether these familiar elements merge into a pleasant experience rests upon the strength of the performances and the viewer's appetite for cinematic comfort food. Regarding the second aspect, Merv targets a specific viewer – those people who browse regularly for dog videos. The film delivers a series of canine-centric sequences. The main attraction is the canine star, and even if it causes some awkward editing between what the dog does and human reaction, the movie succeeds in showing canine party antics, pet moping, and, in the end, a tail-wagging resolution.
Where It Wobbles
This level of success cannot be applied for the human side of the story. The film's approach wavers between serious study, broad humor, standard rom-com beats, and physical comedy, never fully committing to a single genre. No blame falls on the actor playing Russ, who is fully game the silliness and cringe demanded of the bizarre setting. His performance contains a endearing lack of ego that supplies much of the film's charm for this on-the-rocks couple. Anna's portrayer, true to her usual style, brings a particular brand of eccentricity that will be to your taste or not. Her portrayal seems a bit too dry, particularly when contrasted against Cox's genuine sadness. (For what it's worth, Gus the Dog is convincing at flopping and whining – while no a canine thespian of that caliber, he remains an excellent dog.)
The film attempts to add substance to the central romance for sequences focusing solely on them – a bit of a pity, since Merv is easily the best part of this feel-good picture. As one might predict, it meets the bare minimum. The catalyst for the split could have been more nuanced with more screen time and fewer direct statements. As it stands, Merv is light and sugary, hitting every expected note. Crafting a story on this shared-custody premise has potential – even if it's not exactly a brilliant concept.
- Merv becomes available on Amazon Prime Video on December 10th.
