Merv Review: A Terrible Rom-Com Riff On Parent Trap With Zooey Deschanel & Charlie Cox

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Most romantic comedies focus on bringing people together, hoping they’ll fall in love. But sometimes, these movies explore whether couples who have split up or are struggling can rekindle their romance. From stories like the various Parent Trap movies, where sisters try to reunite their divorced parents, to films like It’s Complicated with its tricky love triangle, there are still creative ways to tell these ‘second chance’ stories.

Prime Video’s Merv aims to be a heartwarming story about second chances. Created by Jessica Swale, Dane Clark, and Linsey Stewart, the film really wants audiences to hope for a reconciliation between Zooey Deschanel‘s Anna and Charlie Cox’s Russ, all for the sake of their sad dog, whom they continue to co-parent. However, despite some appealing moments, the movie is so predictable and cautious that it feels somewhat condescending to the viewer.

Merv’s Script Spells Out Everything To The Point Of Leaving No Nuance For Viewers To Reflect On

Charlie Cox trades his role as a lawyer in Daredevil for a more gentle part as Russ Owens, a kind elementary school teacher. Russ is still reeling from a breakup, so much so that even his students notice. Zooey Deschanel plays an optometrist who throws herself into work and caring for her dog to avoid dealing with the same breakup. Her friends are so concerned, one of them secretly creates a dating profile for her.

Russ and Anna are still struggling with the emotional fallout from their breakup, which is making co-parenting difficult. They become concerned when their dog, Merv, starts acting unusually tired. A vet visit reveals Merv is depressed, likely due to the disruption in his routine caused by their split, and the vet warns this could lead to serious health issues. Having also been feeling down himself, Russ discovers a dog-and-owner retreat on a Florida beach – a welcome escape from the cold Boston winter around Christmas – and hopes it will help both him and Merv feel better.

Even though Russ tried his best, Merv remained sad until Anna unexpectedly interrupted their trip, determined to cheer him up. Russ and Anna ended up stuck together for a week, trying to help their dog, but also having to face the issues that caused their breakup in the first place.

The movie Merv had the potential to go one of two ways. With a strong script and talented actors – and it definitely has the latter – it could have been a charming and enjoyable romantic comedy released just in time for the holidays. Unfortunately, it often leans toward being a predictable and overly simplistic film that underestimates its audience.

The first part of the movie spends too much time explaining things. We meet Anna and Russ, along with their friends, and the film immediately tells us everything about them – their problems and feelings. This prevents the actors, Zooey Deschanel and Jason Cox, from developing their characters naturally, and doesn’t allow the audience to connect with the story or understand why things are so chaotic before the real fun begins.

Throughout the film, Zooey Deschanel’s character, Anna, is consistently portrayed as the antagonist. Her tendency to be overbearing while looking after Merv is frustrating to watch, and she doesn’t show enough sadness after her split with Russ, making it hard for the audience to feel sorry for her early on.

Around the middle of the movie, both Russ and Anna start attracting other people, which naturally causes some jealousy and attempts to ruin each other’s budding relationships. While you’d expect this to bring them closer, the movie handles it unevenly. Anna’s potential new love interest is quickly removed from the story, but Russ gets to keep his, creating a feeling that the film unfairly favors Cox’s character over Deschanel’s.

The unevenness of the writing becomes especially clear during the characters’ deeper conversations about their breakup. While this key reveal happens near the end of the film, it had the potential to offer a truly insightful look into both characters’ views on relationships and what they each need, ultimately making Anna’s journey to happiness more relatable and satisfying.

However, the writing still seems to portray Nick Cox more favorably than Anna Deschanel in these scenes. While Anna gets a chance to explain her side of the breakup with some genuine emotion, and Zooey Deschanel delivers it well, Nick’s character quickly shifts from being understanding to blaming her, making it seem like she’s responsible for everything that went wrong.

However, the film’s weaknesses aren’t due to the performances of Zooey Deschanel and Jason Cox. Throughout the 105-minute movie—which feels overly long and slow at times—they clearly try their best to make the uninspired material more engaging, and they seem to have enjoyed themselves in certain scenes. Still, even they appear limited by the movie’s excessively sweet and predictable romance, preventing either actor from developing a truly compelling character arc.

If you’ve enjoyed feel-good holiday movies like those Lindsay Lohan has made for Netflix, or the many films Hallmark produces, you might also like Merv. It delivers the familiar, comforting elements of the genre, including a lovable dog and a heartwarming story. However, if you’re hoping for a movie with more depth and complexity, this one likely won’t satisfy.

Merv begins streaming on Prime Video on December 10.

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2025-12-09 18:15