Review: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

Reviews

Aquamarine

Mermaid fantasy has nothing to do with Splash

By BRETT MICHEL | March 1, 2006

2.0 Stars

AQUAMARINE: Cast is decent, but they're landlocked by the script

Daryl Hannah can breathe easy — this mermaid tale based on Alice Hoffman’s book will do little to erase memories of Ron Howard’s Splash. Nevertheless, tween girls too young to recall 1984 (either the year or the Orwell novel) should be swept along by the relaxed performances of Emma Roberts (Julia’s niece) and Foxborough’s Joanna “JoJo” Levesque as 13-year-old best friends Claire and Hailey, who discover something very fishy in their beach club’s swimming pool – a spirited water nymph (Sara Paxton) who’s looking for love. “Aqua” thinks she’s found it in lifeguard Raymond (Jake McDorman), but she faces competition (“All the girls are after him — even a few boys”) that’ll include local beauty Cecilia (Arielle Kebbel). Director Elizabeth Allen gets a lot from her largely female cast, but they’re landlocked by a screenplay that loses much of the magic of Hoffman’s book. Will love conquer all? Do fish smell?

Related: Tinkling symbols, Talent pool, The goggles do nothing, More

Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Movie Stars, More

| More

See more deals

view all

[ 02/18 ] 20th Annual Cajun & Zydeco Mardi Gras Ball @ Rhodes-On-the-Pawtuxet

[ 02/18 ] "Dana Levin: A Classical Realist In the 21st Century," an exhibit of paintings @ Bert Gallery

[ 02/18 ] A screening of Andy Warhol's Sleep @ RK Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema

More Information

Watch the trailer for Aquamarine (QuickTime)

ARTICLES BY BRETT MICHEL

REVIEW: THIS MEANS WAR | February 16, 2012
What promises to be a modern Jules and Jim (until you realize it's directed by a 43-year-old who calls himself "McG") quickly devolves into Spy vs. Spy territory, only with incompetently staged and edited action and little of that ol' Mad magazine zing.

REVIEW: THE VIRAL FACTOR | January 17, 2012
Made for a modest budget of $17 million — and feeling like it (who needs convincing explosions in an action movie?), Dante Lam's latest still gets the job done from a run-and-gun standpoint.

REVIEW: EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE | January 17, 2012
Too soon? For Stephen Daldry's 9/11 drama, the right time is "never."

REVIEW: THE DIVIDE | January 10, 2012
Many a teleplay for The Twilight Zone threatened atomic Armageddon, and though Frontier(s) director Xavier Gens nukes New York in the opening shots of his latest thriller, he finds more inspiration in the horrors of human nature as seen in the old TV show's episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street."

REVIEW: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL | December 20, 2011
Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) returns to the screen in dramatic fashion as new teammate Jane (Paula Patton) and the returning Benji (Simon Pegg) break him out of a Russian prison.