I wanted to like this film in more ways then one. For starters it's a film starring two 13 year- old girls and a mermaid and to praise it would be to trump my objectivity as a critic, because, being a 27 year-old male, I may not be its target market. Also, it's directed by first-timer Elizabeth Allen whose previous credit was a dark comedic short addressing the volatile relationship between an insecure boy and his glass eye!
Sold.
Yes, I had high hopes that morning as I strolled into a theater teeming with pre-pubescent teens (my "peeps" I called them) and as the lights dimmed on their spastic chatter I thought to myself, "Is it possible that Aquamarine could be to Elizabeth Allen what Big was to Penny Marshall!?". If so, my peeps were in for a treat! They too could come of age to the modest charm of a whimsical tale of adolescent obsessions; they too would laugh, love and learn from intelligently, understated insights on experience.
Yeah, well, it wasn't and they didn't; but I'm not bitter. To make it up to them I even smacked a few of the brats on the head as we were leaving the theater and whispered "that's life, deal with it!" into their ear.
Allen's film follows two best friends, Clair and Hailey, trying to make the most of the last days of their summer vacation and, in many respects, their innocents. You see Hailey's moving to Australia and the two must now confront life without each other's mutual support. But this is a mermaid film so cue Sarah Paxton sporting strategically placed long blond hair (who also happens to be in great duress) to offer a solution to all their problems: hook her up with the toothy lifeguard and she'll grant them one wish.
Bold.
While there are a couple genuine laughs, both tone and humour are inconsistent throughout as Allen struggles to find an identity for her film. Like when the girls find empowerment from receiving a makeover that destroys their individuality and leaves them looking like clones of the popular girls they hate so much? It also doesn't help that the script appears to be torn from the pages of teen magazines, with forced ideals lacking any sense of grace or charm. The result is a heavy-handed film that tries hard but stumbles all they way.
And though they may tell you different, my peeps deserve better then that.
Sold.
Yes, I had high hopes that morning as I strolled into a theater teeming with pre-pubescent teens (my "peeps" I called them) and as the lights dimmed on their spastic chatter I thought to myself, "Is it possible that Aquamarine could be to Elizabeth Allen what Big was to Penny Marshall!?". If so, my peeps were in for a treat! They too could come of age to the modest charm of a whimsical tale of adolescent obsessions; they too would laugh, love and learn from intelligently, understated insights on experience.
Yeah, well, it wasn't and they didn't; but I'm not bitter. To make it up to them I even smacked a few of the brats on the head as we were leaving the theater and whispered "that's life, deal with it!" into their ear.
Allen's film follows two best friends, Clair and Hailey, trying to make the most of the last days of their summer vacation and, in many respects, their innocents. You see Hailey's moving to Australia and the two must now confront life without each other's mutual support. But this is a mermaid film so cue Sarah Paxton sporting strategically placed long blond hair (who also happens to be in great duress) to offer a solution to all their problems: hook her up with the toothy lifeguard and she'll grant them one wish.
Bold.
While there are a couple genuine laughs, both tone and humour are inconsistent throughout as Allen struggles to find an identity for her film. Like when the girls find empowerment from receiving a makeover that destroys their individuality and leaves them looking like clones of the popular girls they hate so much? It also doesn't help that the script appears to be torn from the pages of teen magazines, with forced ideals lacking any sense of grace or charm. The result is a heavy-handed film that tries hard but stumbles all they way.
And though they may tell you different, my peeps deserve better then that.