Holly
03-06-2006, 12:51 PM
It isn't easy being a mermaid who's looking for love.
Witness Daryl Hannah in “Splash,” and even Ariel in Disney's “The Little Mermaid.” To that list, you can now add Sara Paxton, who plays the somewhat waterlogged title character in the fantasy-comedy movie “Aquamarine.”
Instead of Tom Hanks as the startled human who crosses paths with the creature in “Splash,” we now get Emma Roberts -- the niece of another actress you may have heard of, Julia Roberts -- and pop-music star JoJo as young friends who are quite astonished to meet someone who has quite a tale. And quite a tail, come to think of it.
Aquamarine has gone AWOL from her undersea home to avoid an arranged marriage, which she can get around if she shows her father that true love is possible on dry land. A hunky young lifeguard becomes her target (the thought process evidently isn't all THAT different beneath the waves), but on the path to romance, Aquamarine also finds time for some basic fun with her new girlfriends.
Those sequences aren't unlike what any viewer can find on actress Paxton's TV series “Darcy's Wild Life,” and maybe that's by design. She is a very engaging young talent with a marvelously expressive face, and for those who don't know her home-screen work, Paxton should strike moviegoers as a wonderfully fresh “find.” She's even livelier than co-star Roberts, who might seem destined to get the most attention here because of her famous family ties.
There's little doubt of the target audience for “Aquamarine,” so if you're not female and under the age of 15, it may not be your cup of tea ... or, to be more true to the picture's theme, your pool of water. Nevertheless, it's a sweet story that makes little demand on viewers, and provides a very pleasant showcase for a sparkling talent by the name of Sara Paxton.
(Rated PG)
Witness Daryl Hannah in “Splash,” and even Ariel in Disney's “The Little Mermaid.” To that list, you can now add Sara Paxton, who plays the somewhat waterlogged title character in the fantasy-comedy movie “Aquamarine.”
Instead of Tom Hanks as the startled human who crosses paths with the creature in “Splash,” we now get Emma Roberts -- the niece of another actress you may have heard of, Julia Roberts -- and pop-music star JoJo as young friends who are quite astonished to meet someone who has quite a tale. And quite a tail, come to think of it.
Aquamarine has gone AWOL from her undersea home to avoid an arranged marriage, which she can get around if she shows her father that true love is possible on dry land. A hunky young lifeguard becomes her target (the thought process evidently isn't all THAT different beneath the waves), but on the path to romance, Aquamarine also finds time for some basic fun with her new girlfriends.
Those sequences aren't unlike what any viewer can find on actress Paxton's TV series “Darcy's Wild Life,” and maybe that's by design. She is a very engaging young talent with a marvelously expressive face, and for those who don't know her home-screen work, Paxton should strike moviegoers as a wonderfully fresh “find.” She's even livelier than co-star Roberts, who might seem destined to get the most attention here because of her famous family ties.
There's little doubt of the target audience for “Aquamarine,” so if you're not female and under the age of 15, it may not be your cup of tea ... or, to be more true to the picture's theme, your pool of water. Nevertheless, it's a sweet story that makes little demand on viewers, and provides a very pleasant showcase for a sparkling talent by the name of Sara Paxton.
(Rated PG)