If you fancy yourself a fan of the holiday season's Hallmark rom-coms, then you may find enough to enjoy with the Prime Video original flick Merv. It's a canine-centered film that, if my mind were to twist enough, could be a Hallmark-themed cousin to one of 2025's more original films, Good Boy. The two films really don't have that much in common other than being centered around a dog more in-tune with feelings than its surrounding humans. 

In this case, Merv is the dog. 

Probably no surprise there. 

Merv is struggling with the break-up of his parents, Anna (Zooey Deschanel) and Russ (Charlie Cox). I mean, sure, this is a cutesie storyline with limited potential, however, the co-leads are likable enough and the storyline fits nicely with the type of cinematic fare we find ourselves sitting down with during the holiday season. Who doesn't like a sweetly funny rom-com centered around a personable pooch during the holiday season?

I guess that's me. I'm that person. I don't. 

Our story moves from Boston to Florida when Russ discovers a Florida retreat that caters to dogs and dog owners, a chance for Russ to escape and for Merv to hopefully heal his emotionally wounded doggie heart. Things continue on the downward trend. Anna shows up. You guessed it. Both Anna and Russ are forced to spend the work not just healing Merv, but they also confront the reasons their relationship failed. 

Here's the first reason. They have lousy chemistry. 

Merv is the kind of film you root for and Anna and Russ are the kind of couple you root for. This is true throughout Merv's excessive 105-minute running time. The film has amazing potential, however, husband-and-wife co-writers Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart dumb down things to the nth degree and not even the seemingly endless charms of Deschanel and Clark can salvage anything resembling an engaging rom-com. This is made worse, at least for me, by the narrative's obvious bias toward Russ muting Deschanel's fierce likability until the film begins to wind down and we finally start to sympathize a bit more with Anna as serious conversations are held and Deschanel's range as an actress gets its due.

Despite everything and every problem the film has, both Cox and Deschanel are clearly doing their best with the material even if it also seems like they're incredibly aware of their lack of chemistry.  Merv likely looked great on paper, however, it's hard to fathom the Merv that ended up on the big screen is the Merv that Cox and Deschanel signed up for. Merv isn't an awful film, though it's also not a good one. It's a missed opportunity to make a memorable holiday season rom-com rather than an instantly forgettable streamer destined to be another streamer you'll likely never think of again even as the closing credits are rolling. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic