Summary
Merv is a painfully predictable holiday rom-com that is slightly elevated by its canine co-star – but even the presence of a very good boy isn’t enough to make this worth your time.
Much like how “horror movie, but with a dog” was more than enough of an elevator pitch for Good Boy, “rom com, but with a dog” is almost enough for Merv. The key word in that sentence, though, is “almost”. Good Boy had the good sense to keep its precious few human characters off-screen for almost all of the runtime, whereas Merv burdens us with a Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel who couldn’t seem less interested in each other if they tried.
Thank goodness for the dog, then. The eponymous pooch is being co-parented by Russ (Cox, fresh from Daredevil: Born Again) and Anna (Deschanel, last seen in Apple TV+’s Physical), a recently separated couple who are still adjusting to their new circumstances. As with children, co-parenting a dog is difficult. It prevents either party from healthily getting over the relationship, it creates catty (ironically) arguments, and it apparently makes the canine depressed.
And thus, we have an easy shortcut to emotional investment. Merv is sad! And since he’s sad because his “parents” are no longer together, the solution simply must be Russ and Anna getting back together. We can see that from the first five minutes of this movie, which is written by Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, directed by British playwright Jessica Swale, and feels at least half an hour longer than its 105-minute runtime, but the leads haven’t quite figured it out. Russ decides that the best thing for it is to take Merv on holiday, staying at a canine resort where Anne quickly joins him.
You will not be at all surprised to learn that this trip is really a way for Russ and Anna to realise that they still have lingering feelings for one another and that the best thing for both of them, not to mention Merv, is a reconciliation. But because we have over an hour to fill, these realisations come via the medium of dog montages. In a canny acknowledgement that neither of the leads is invested enough, every key moment occurs in the background of Merv enjoying the beach, or attending a party, or going for a walk, and his general demeanour is shorthand for how well the relationship is going. Dog’s still depressed? There are about twenty minutes left. Dog’s yelping with excitement? We’re almost there.
On paper, I’m very much the target demographic for a movie like this. And since I’m a realistic critic, I can’t even fault Merv for its flagrant predictability, underused supporting characters (it’s always nice to see Patricia Heaton in things; she plays Russ’s mum), and tawdry overall vibe. It’s a straight-to-streaming Christmas rom-com – what more do you expect from the platform that released Finding Joy?
But I can’t quite forgive how little chemistry exists between Cox and Deschanel. Even Amazon’s otherwise-rubbish Maintenance Required worked on the basis of having leads who seemed like they were liable to jump on each other at a moment’s notice. These two are famously attractive, but they’re both inexplicably asked to play dorky losers here, and the vibe is of two people who only passingly know each other. Cox is more game and is willing to throw himself into a few really overdone silly sequences, but neither strikes me as a crucial part of a romantic relationship. They’re both just… dull.
Again, then, thank goodness for the dog. When Merv reaches for unearned emotional sentiment, as in the late reveal of the reason behind Russ and Anna’s breakup, it can feel a little embarrassing, with neither the writing or the performances – check the scene on the beach where Anna explains her breakup head-space; woeful – able to shoulder the burden. In these moments, Merv is always on hand to be adorable and distract us from the flimsy human drama. He is most assuredly a good boy, which is really all that matters in a movie like this. But I can’t help feeling like he’d have been better going on holiday alone.
