Merv

You know every single beat of how their relationship is going to turn out, but because of how cute the dog is and how cute Deschanel and Cox are together, you can't help but buy into it. They're great together, and their charm elevates a script that could have easily been translated into yet another streaming Christmas romantic comedy.

As it is, Merv is slight and sweet and entirely to expectations. Making a movie about co-parenting a dog is not a bad idea – though I wouldn’t say it’s a great one, either.

Another romantic comedy in a long list of contemporaries which, despite scant traces of effort, fails in making its title character anything more than second fiddle to the couple who should rightfully take his place.

Sadly, the film doesn’t live up to its charming premise, spending most of its runtime chasing its own tail with pointless jokes and dog-related puns that are only mildly amusing, along with an undercooked love story that doesn’t know how to steal our hearts.

Merv is heartwarming, in the abstract, but the heat generated is strictly lukewarm.

There isn’t much to this.

It hits the familiar beats that many find comforting, it has an undeniably adoring dog front and center for much of its runtime, and has a well-meaning enough outcome to its plot. But for those looking for something that doesn't quite literally skate the surface of its premise and characters, this is definitely not the film for you.

O ranço que eu tenho reunido em só filme: clima ntalino, comédia romântica clichê, cãozinho, adultos infantilizados, edição linear tediosa, diálogos ruins, interpretações no piloto automático, casal sem química... Olha, tem que ter muita disposição.