Mermaid Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) enjoys a relaxing bath. COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX

Credit: Carl Schierhorn

Aquamarine is a new take on an old story.

The film begins with best friends Hailey (JoJo) and Claire (Emma Roberts) admiring their crush – Raymond (McDorman), a lifeguard. They know everything about him – from his favorite music to the way he expresses himself through his body language.

The two girls are best friends who are about to be separated as Hailey and her marine-biologist mother are moving to Australia in a few days so her mother can begin her dream job.

But, following a night of terrible storms, the girls may have found a way to stay together – a mermaid.

Aquamarine is a mermaid out of water who is fishing for true love on land. She has three days to prove to her father that she can do this on her own because she doesn’t want to have an arranged marriage.

When the girls realize that Aquamarine has a love interest in Raymond, both of them are in shock and prove that he is a hard catch when they say, “Raymond is way too popular. All the girls are after him. Even a few boys.” As usual, there’s an aggressive girl who is after the boy too.

While Hailey and Claire may be jealous, they decide to help Aquamarine get the love and attention from Raymond because, in this story, when somebody helps a mermaid, they get a wish. They quickly decide their wish would be that Hailey and her mother don’t move to Australia.

In this story, Aquamarine explains that merfolk can have legs when sunlight is out and no water touches the legs. But the fin comes back when she gets splashed or when the sun goes down. Of course, it’s for this reason that Aquamarine has to run away from her dates with Raymond, making it more difficult to get his love.

This movie crosses The Little Mermaid, Now and Then and Clueless. The Clueless part comes from the combined stupidity of the bully and the mermaid. Aquamarine doesn’t seem to know how to do many things that humans do on land, but when she goes to teen magazines to get advice on dating and boys, she can read with astonishing speed.

Although there were many flaws with this movie – such as a painfully stereotypical and obnoxious cast and a lack of plot innovation due to rampant theft from The Little Mermaid, it was somewhat entertaining. The sensuality is almost non-existent and the only bad language often comes in the form of a joke.

Aquamarine‘s ending can be predicted simply by reading this review.

The acting is average and the characters are interesting. JoJo, a popular musician, and Roberts make a great team and convincingly give the feeling they are truly best friends.

Aquamarine is a throw-back movie to the endless summers of fun with best friends.

While not a movie targeted for college-age audiences, it’s a movie that entire families can dive into and have a fantastic time with.

Contact ALL correspondent Ryan Haidet at [email protected].