Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel star in a romantic comedy. That should be enough to get you invested, but if you need more, There is a dog. The new Prime Video film Merv brings all three of those elements together, and you’re welcome.

Cox stars as Russ, a man who is sharing custody of his dog Merv with his ex, Anna (Deschanel). One week, Merv is with Anna and one week, he’s with Russ. The situation isn’t really working for anyone and especially not Merv, who is diagnosed with depression by his vet when he isn’t really feeling himself. So to cheer him up, his dad takes him on a vacation all leading to Merv’s master plan of trying to get his parents back together.

It is really a tale as old as time: Couple breaks up and their family wants them to get back together. This time, instead of kids doing the meddling, it is a depressed dog. But it does lead to a cute change to the typical rom-com moments. Anna goes to meet Merv and Russ on their vacation and the rest is romantic comedy history. With dancing moments, misunderstandings, and more.

Merv doesn’t really add or take anything away from the overall concept of a rom-com. It’s pretty straightforward and that’s okay. But when it does try to have its more emotional moments, they don’t really feel earned and are disjointed. Russ and Anna’s break-up is a central bit of tension but when we learn why they broke up and how it happened, it all comes across as more complicated and convoluted.

It’s Cute But Nothing More

Romantic comedies have this reputation from people who don’t like them: They’re predictable and cheesy. And at times throughout Merv, I felt similarly. It was okay. I could see why people who don’t like the genre wouldn’t because of how Merv tackles those “tropey” moments. Still, it was fun.

Not every rom-com needs to reinvent the genre and it felt like Merv was perfectly comfortable maintaining what audiences know and expect from this kind of film. But it was nice to see Cox having a lot of fun playing a teacher to Deschanel’s optometrist of an ex girlfriend.

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