Fresh, young faces make a splash

For decades we have been fascinated with the myth of those mystical creatures who live in the ocean, who are half fish, half human and most commonly known as mermaids. "Aquamarine" is a fresh, upbeat movie that takes a look at a mermaid who relocates to land looking for love.\nAs summer is coming to an end, best friends Claire (played by Julia Roberts' niece, Emma Roberts) and Hailey (Pop singer, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) try to come up with an alternative to Hailey having to permanently move away to Australia. \nA huge storm causes the naïve mermaid, Aquamarine ("Summerland's" Sara Paxton), to wash ashore and into the pool of a local beach club. On a mission to prove to her father that the myth of love really exists, Aquamarine befriends Claire and Hailey. As the story progresses Aquamarine begins to rely on Claire and Hailey to help her find love in three days or she will be pulled back to sea by her father. If Claire and Hailey can help Aqua find love, then she will grant them one wish; with that, they will be able to stop Hailey from moving all the way across the world. The only problem is, Aqua can only have legs and be on land during the day and she must steer clear of water or her fins will reappear.\nAqua immediately sets eyes on the hunky Raymond (Jake McDormand), Claire and Hailey's crush. But the thought of staying in America. is more important and this makes Claire and Hailey work hard to have Aqua win over Raymond. It is a race against time as to whether or not Raymond will be able to say he loves Aqua. \nThis teen comedy is very light-hearted and whimsical. It's nice to see the fresh faces of Roberts and Levesque, especially in roles that allow them to act and dress appropriately for their ages. The one thing I didn't like were the various ages of the characters. Claire and Hailey will be entering eighth grade and Raymond mentions something about beginning college. It is also confusing as to how old Aqua actually is.\nTo be really picky, I was also bothered by the consistency of time through the film. Aqua needed to be back in water by sunset (for physical reasons), yet there were many times when she was out at night without a problem. \nFor the most part though, I did enjoy this movie and I think it's great for pre-teen to teenage girls; but other than that, I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone else. If you are looking for a warm, light-hearted comedy you might enjoy "Aquamarine"