- Content: “A Tale of Canine Redemption”
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What You Need To Know:
MERV is fairly charming. The camerawork and editing are superb. The chemistry between Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox carries the entire picture. Both actors convey the main couple’s joy, guilt and positive transformation. However, the script lacks originality, and the ending isn’t as satisfying as it could have been. That said, Anna and Russ slowly mend their breakup by trying to help their pet battle depression. They openly care for their neighbors, visit their families during Christmas, and take their responsibility as dog owners seriously. Though not legally married, they express an interest in holy matrimony. However, MERV is marred by brief foul language, innuendo, drunkenness, and lying. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for mature viewers.
Content:
Mixed pagan worldview with Romantic, Christian, moral elements, including a man and a woman break up despite never being officially married, the lead characters redeem themselves for past mistakes and learn to become friends again, the characters care for the wellbeing of their pet dog and adopt several dogs, a couple copes with their inability to have children, people openly care for their neighbors and visit their families during Christmas, plus a witch doctor tries to mind-read a dog (but she’s revealed to be a quack);
Three “d” obscenities and five light profanities;
Light comic violence when a drunken man dances his ex-lover into the pool;
No depicted or implied sex scenes, but unmarried couple lives together before their breakup, but a character crudely mentions “penis-shaped snacks” in dialogue, and the lead characters discuss fertility issues;
Brief upper male nudity with the male lead going shirtless at the beach, and the female lead wears a bikini at a Florida resort;
Six scenes of alcohol consumption, the characters get visibly drunk at a pool, and the movie implies that the lead characters use alcohol as a coping mechanism;
No smoking or drug abuse; and,
A man lies about being sick to his employer and uses his sick days to go on vacation during the work week (the same man is later exposed via social media posts).
More Detail:
As a Christmas-themed streaming movie, MERV is fairly charming. The camerawork, editing and casting are superb. The screen chemistry between Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox carries the entire picture. Both actors are able to convey the joy, guilt and eventual positive transformation of the main couple. Their charisma elevates the kind of otherwise generic script viewers often see in most romantic comedies. The characters play some tennis games, get drunk, and get into hijinx related to the Christmas holiday. MERV doesn’t reinvent the formula, but it executes the genre with high proficiency.
Anna and Russ slowly mend their breakup by trying to help their pet dog, Merv, battle depression. Merv is sad after seeing his owners have an unceremonious breakup. Both ex-lovers openly care for their neighbors, visit their families during Christmas, and take their responsibility as dog owners seriously. They were never legally married, but expressed a serious interest in holy matrimony. Yet, MERV has some unpleasant side issues.
MERV has some sexual innuendo, scenes of drunkenness and other immorality. The lead male character lies to his employer and takes his pet dog on vacation during the work week. He later gets exposed for his lies. Also, both lead characters drink wine and get visibly drunk once. There’s also a scene where a “witch” tries to read the mind of a pet dog, but she’s exposed as a phony.
Lastly, as a MAJOR SPOILER, the characters reveal the true reason for their breakup: the female lead is infertile and cannot have children. Both lead characters overcome their trauma and dedicate their love towards adopting multiple dogs. The couple does not get married, but they begin a happy friendship caring for Merv and their other pets.
MERV is an entertaining television movie. The casting, camerawork and editing are top notch, but the script lacks innovation. There’s a strong bias toward elevating the wellbeing of dogs. However, the story’s weighed down by the immoral content in MERV. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for mature viewers.
