In terms of cinematic sure things, there’s nothing quite as reliable as dogs. People love their dogs, and movies about dogs are instantly more bankable than those without. Jessica Swale’s Prime Video romcom Merv feels like it began with this idea in mind, and then manufactured a fairly cookie-cutter romcom around it. Now, that’s not to say the film lacks charm, but it certainly does lack bite.
Co-parenting situations among divorced couples is always tricky ground to navigate. In Merv, it’s about sharing custody of the titular canine. Zooey Deschanel plays optometrist Anna, who six months prior had a presumably bad breakup with schoolteacher Russ, played by Charlie Cox. There’s just one problem. They continue to share custody of their dog, Merv, meaning they are still in one another’s lives. That makes it tough to truly move on. Russ is a mess, literally his condo is full of empty boxes and assorted trash; while Anna is being egged on by her pals to get off her butt and start dating.
Merv ain’t havin’ none of this. Stupid humans ruining all of his fun.
Turns out, Merv is feeling pretty depressed over this breakup stuff, and after a vet diagnoses him as such, Russ decides to take him to a Florida beach resort for dogs. The hope is for Merv to get his groove back, but when it fails to work, Anna shows up because she also realizes that he is happiest when they are all together.
Was this like the doggy version of the Parent Trap? Did Merv, who occasionally seems to be able to understand human language (he’s a reaction shot machine) set this whole thing up to get his two favorite humans back together again? Honestly, it doesn’t really matter. The big problem with Merv is that it doesn’t seem to be about Merv at all. If he was not in the movie, there’s little about the screenplay by Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart that would change. The film settles into a comfortable, familiar groove. Russ and Anna start out pretty icy towards one another, but the thaw melts over surprise salsa dancing nights, a trip to see Russ’s parents (Patricia Heaton and David Hunt), and, of course, the threat of an outside love interest with a cute pup of her own.
Director Jessica Swale keeps the pace up and smartly leans into the natural gifts of her stars. We’re so used to Cox as the gritty Daredevil in the MCU that it’s nice to hear his English voice come out, and to see him play a character with a silly streak. Deschanel has loads of characters on her resume that are similar to Anna, and it would be easy for her to sleepwalk through this one. She doesn’t do that, however, and finds easy comedic and romantic chemistry with Cox. It becomes important in the final act when a revelation about Russ and Anna’s split takes Merv into slightly more serious territory. But never fear, because it isn’t too long until it’s literally song and dance time with the four-legged co-stars again. Set around the holidays, Merv will be a perfectly delightful, harmless diversion around any festivities, even if it does keep its canine lead tucked away like a Christmas stocking.
Merv is streaming now on Prime Video.
