Aquamarine (film)

Best friends Claire and Hailey are enjoying their last few days of summer together in their small beach town near Tampa, Florida, before Hailey relocates to Australia because of her mother's work as a marine biologist. Claire, sensible and slightly naive, looks up to Hailey as a mother figure, after her parents drowned in a boat accident years before, and now lives with her grandparents by the beach. Hailey, who is more daring and adventurous, lives with her single mother after her father left them.

They have a slumber party and Hailey prays to the ocean god for a miracle that will make her mother change her mind about moving; and minutes later, a violent storm occurs. The following morning, Claire accidentally falls into the beach club swimming pool and sees something strange, with blue hair and a tail, in the water. The girls go back and explore it later that night, and find a mermaid named Aquamarine. They instantly become friends. Aquamarine tells the girls that she needs to prove to her father that true love exists or she will be forced to marry a man she does not know when she returns home. Aquamarine (who is able to change her tail into legs during the day as long as she does not get wet) has set her eyes on Raymond, the lifeguard whom Hailey and Claire have had a crush on for years. They are reluctant at first, but when Aquamarine explains that you get a wish if you help a mermaid, they agree to try, in hope that they can prevent Hailey from leaving.

Because Aquamarine is not human, she does not understand how love works and is rejected immediately by Raymond when they first meet. Still, the girls promise to make Raymond fall in love with Aquamarine over the next three days, using strategies found in teen magazines. However, a group of popular girls headed by Cecilia Banks, who also has a crush on Raymond, are always getting in the way.

At the street fair, Raymond spends the day with Aquamarine and mentions that he wants to see her at a party, The Last Splash, the following night. She flees without giving him an answer, knowing a sunset can cause her legs to transform back into a tail. Claire and Hailey find Aquamarine a water tower for her to spend the night in. The following day, Cecilia tells Raymond that Aquamarine has a boyfriend back home, so Raymond invites Cecilia to the party instead. Claire finds Raymond, and tells him that Cecilia made the whole thing up. He goes back with Claire, and reconciles with Aquamarine.

At the party, Aquamarine and Raymond bond more but then she flees again due to sunset. Before she does, she kisses him and asks him to meet her on the pier in the morning. When the three girls leave the party, Cecilia follows them to the water tower and discovers Aquamarine's secret. She unhooks the ladder to prevent Aquamarine from getting down and calls the news so she can expose her on national television. However, during the night, the town's mysterious handyman Leonard helps her out and promises not to tell anyone what he knows. Aquamarine grants him a wish for helping her out.

The next morning, Aquamarine asks Raymond if he loves her. Raymond admits that he likes her a lot but has not fallen in love with Aquamarine. Aquamarine is disappointed and tears stream down her face. Cecilia interrupts and pushes Aquamarine into the ocean, where Aquamarine turns back into a mermaid. Raymond is shocked, but goes to get his rescue board to save her. Aquamarine's father calls her back home in a giant storm, but Hailey and Claire swim after her, telling Aquamarine to grab onto a buoy nearby. They discover the meaning of platonic love, and Aquamarine's father is satisfied knowing love is real. The girls then receive their wish. They decide to not use it to keep Hailey from moving away since her mother worked hard for this, and instead, they part ways with Aquamarine, with promises of Aquamarine visiting them both. Raymond swims up to Aquamarine, and he asks her to visit him as well. She agrees and they kiss. Back on shore the girls see Leonard has used his wish to win the heart of another employee Bonnie whom he has loved for so long. Raymond finds the girls to thank them for introducing him to Aquamarine, while telling them that he doesn't know if he could have done what they had done keeping Aquamarine's secret. He gives them both a kiss on the cheek, and the girls walk away giving each other one last hug with both saying how much they will miss one another.

In the stage booklet it is revealed that a year later Claire, Raymond, and Aquamarine meet up with Hailey in Australia exploring the great coral reef together.

• Sara Paxton as Aquamarine
• Emma Roberts as Claire "Clara" Brown
• JoJo as Hailey Rogers
• Jake McDorman as Raymond
• Arielle Kebbel as Cecilia Banks
• Claudia Karvan as Ginny Rogers
• Bruce Spence as Leonard
• Tammin Sursok as Marjorie
• Roy Billing as Bob Brown
• Julia Blake as Maggie Brown
• Shaun Micallef as Storm Banks
• Lulu McClatchy as Bonnie
• Natasha Cunningham as Patty
• Dichen Lachman as Beth
• Lincoln Lewis as Theo
• Alice Hunter as Beach Girl

The film was released on DVD on June 13, 2006, and on Blu-ray on March 6, 2012.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 51% based on reviews from 89 critics, with an average rating of 5.44/10. The site's consensus states: "A lighthearted, gum-smacking, boy-crazy film with a hopeful message for young girls."[4] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[5] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A-" on scale of A to F.[6]

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter called it "A bright and breezy tween fantasy romantic comedy that coasts along on its charming performances and the light comedic touch of first-time feature director Elizabeth Allen."[7] Variety's Joe Leydon praised the film saying it was an "unusually likeable family-friendly comedy that could appeal far beyond its target [audience]".[8]

1. "One Original Thing" – Cheyenne Kimball
2. "Strike" – Nikki Flores
3. "Connected" – Sara Paxton
4. "Gentlemen" – Teddy Geiger
5. "One and Only" – Teitur
6. "Island in the Sun" – Emma Roberts
7. "Time for Me to Fly" – Jonas Brothers
8. "Can't Behave" – Courtney Jaye
9. "Summertime Guys" – Nikki Cleary
10. "One Way or Another" – Mandy Moore
11. "Sweet Troubled Soul" – Stellastarr
12. "I Like the Way You Move" – Bodyrockers

Two of the film's main stars, Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton, were featured on the soundtrack. In 2008, La La Land Records released a limited edition CD (1000 pressings) of David Hirschfelder's score (incorporating the voice of Paxton) for the film.

1. "Main Titles"
2. "The Storm"
3. "Washed Ashore"
4. "Claire Falls In"
5. "Meeting Aqua"
6. "The Next Morning/Shell Phone Call"
7. "Making the Deal"
8. "Ray & Aqua/Magazines"
9. "Paddleboat Date"
10. "The Water Tower"
11. "Hailey Rides the Dolphins"
12. "Aqua's Decision"
13. "First Kiss"
14. "Cecilia Climbs the Tower"
15. "Hailey and Claire Argue"
16. "The Pier/Storm/The Buoy"
17. "The Tear/Goodbyes"
18. "Finale"

Other songs featured in the film[10]

• "A Comer Chicharron (Guaracha)" – Charanga Cubana
• "City Girls Jr." – Simon Leadley
• "Control Me" – The A Team
• "Dejenme Vivir" – Charanga Cubana
• "Don't Cry Baby" – Alana Dafonseca
• "Drive Me Crazy" – Miss Eighty 6
• "I Rock Hard" – Miss Eighty 6
• "Island in the Sun" – Halfday
• "Big Wave – Pearl Jam
• "Underground" – Puretone
• "Smile" – Vitamin C
• "Right Now 2004" - Atomic Kitten

• Mermaids in popular culture

• Aquamarine at IMDb
• Aquamarine at AllMovie
• Aquamarine at Box Office Mojo