Aquamarine

AQUAMARINE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: thematic elements

Rated:

Mermaids have been a subject of fascination for centuries. Stories were told of the mythical creatures to children in ancient Greece, and sailors often associated them with the most forbidden parts of the sea. In more recent times, mermaids have again become popular through Disney movies. Aquamarine is no exception to the teen film genre but is cuter than most.

The favorite activity of best friends Claire (Emma Roberts) and Hailey (Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque) is beachside boy-watching. One boy in particular. Raymond (Jake McDorman) is the local lifeguard and one of the cutest guys around, but he has very little interest in younger women, particularly those who hide underneath a sun umbrella all day long. The last few days of their "best-ever summer" are coming to an end, and sadly, Hailey is soon to move away with her mom to Australia. Her mom has gotten an enormous promotion and the funding needed to pursue her career in marine biology preservation. Hailey doesn't want to leave her best friend. Claire, in the meanwhile, is under the watchful guardianship of her grandparents, after the semi-recent death of her parents in a boating accident. The girls send up a sisterly prayer to the guardians of the sea to deliver them from these trials.

A storm assails the seas and washes into the pool a mysterious form that the girls discover is a mermaid. Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) is a human-challenged child of the sea attempting to escape an arranged marriage put in motion by her father, the king of the sea. Mermaids do not believe in love, but Aquamarine is determined to prove to her father that it exists. Given three days to find her man, she enlists the assistance of the girls with the promise that if they succeed in helping her, a wish will be given to them. The thought of staying together means more to them than the horror of giving up Raymond, who Aquamarine has set her eye on, and so it becomes a desperate race against time to put the clumsy but beautiful Aquamarine with her lifeguard before Daddy calls her home.

I must admit that certain parts of the film are juvenile and sometimes downright corny, particularly in the beginning, but it's not long before the audience starts to become invested in the fun of the whole thing. Most teen dramas are shallow, and this one is deeper than most. The girls learn important lessons about themselves. Claire decides to confront her deepest fears, and Hailey ultimately realizes that the world does not revolve around her. Aquamarine also learns that love is a process and not instantaneous. True, there is the given "enemy" girl who is determined to catch Raymond for herself, but even she is taken down a notch or two. There are the customary insults and giggle-fits, and I would have adored this film as a tween. As it stands now, it's extremely cute and something I would recommend for my niece without many misgivings.

There isn't any language that I can remember, but a few thematic elements. There is talk about people drowning in the sea, and a violent storm threatens to pull Aquamarine out of the bay. Mild slapstick violence happens, and there is some drooling over various "hunky" boys. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was the fact that mermaids don't wear anything on top. Filmmakers were very careful to make certain Aquamarine's long hair covered her breasts at all time, but it's still a little disconcerting. The girls mockingly pray to the sea gods, but it's portrayed as a joke. Overall, it had more heart than most teen comedies and certainly has its cuter moments, among them compliment-giving starfish.