Aquamarine (film)

Aquamarine is a 2006 Australian-American teen fantasy comedy film starring Sara Paxton, Emma Roberts, and JoJo. The film, which was made in both the United States and Australia, was released in North America on March 3, 2006. The film was loosely based on a young adult novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman, and was directed by American director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum. The film was filmed in Queensland, Australia.

Plot
13-year-old best friends Claire Brown (Emma Roberts) and Hailey Rogers (JoJo) are upset to know that they will be separated in five days as Hailey has to move to Australia because of her mother's (Claudia Karvan) work. Claire, sensible and slightly naive, looks up to Hailey as a mother figure in some ways, since her parents drowned in a boat accident years before. She now lives with her grandparents (Roy Billing and Julia Blake) by the beach near Hailey, who is more daring and adventurous in the small beach town.

One night while the girls have a slumber party, Hailey prays to the ocean god for a miracle that will make her mother change her mind about moving. Minutes later, a violent storm occurs. The following morning, Claire accidentally slips into the local beach club swimming pool and notices something strange under the water with blue hair and a tail. She tries to tell herself it was only a figment of her imagination since she's been afraid of water ever since her parents' deaths, but Hailey convinces Claire to come back and explore it later that night. When they do, they find a mermaid named Aquamarine (Sara Paxton). They instantly become friends and Aquamarine tells the girls that she needs to prove to her father that true love exists or she'll be made to get married to a man she doesn't know when she returns home. She also explains that if you help a mermaid, you get a wish.

Aquamarine immediately sets her eyes on Raymond (Jake McDorman), the lifeguard who Hailey and Claire have had a crush on for years. They are reluctant at first, but know it is their last hope, so they agree to help her. However, because Aquamarine isn't human, she doesn't understand that people don't just love one another instantly, and is rejected by Raymond when they first meet. Still, the girls promise to make Raymond fall in love with Aquamarine over the next three days. They use strategies found in the magazines that Claire and Hayley read, and proceed to stalk Raymond around town so he can notice Aquamarine more and more.

At the street fair, Raymond spends the day with Aquamarine. While spending time together alone in the water watching the sunset, he mentions that he wants to see her at a party, The Last Splash, the following night, but she flees before she can give him an answer knowing a sunset can cause her legs to transform back into a tail. Claire and Hailey show Aquamarine a water tower for her to spend the night in, and promise to visit her the next day. In the morning, the three take a bus to Tampa to buy new outfits for the party.

For years, Hailey and Claire have had disagreements with a more popular group of girls, especially Cecilia Banks (Arielle Kebbel), who also has a crush on Raymond. Cecilia lies and tells him that the reason Aquamarine left so soon is to be with her boyfriend, so Raymond invites Cecilia to the party instead. Later that day, Claire goes to find Raymond to tell him that Cecilia made the whole thing up, and he and Aquamarine reconcile. At the party, Aquamarine and Raymond bond more, but before she flees again because of another sunset, 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 they can expose her on national television. However, in the night, the town's mysterious handyman Leonard (Bruce Spence) helps her out and promises not to tell anyone what he knows. Aquamarine grants him a wish for helping her out. When Cecilia shows up with her father, Storm Banks (Shaun Micallef), a news and weather reporter to expose Aquamarine, the rescue team just finds a toy dolphin in the water tower and the whole crowd, including the rescue workers, all laugh at Cecilia and Storm. Humiliated, outraged and knowing that his career may now be ruined, Storm takes Cecilia's car away from her—permanently as a punishment and tells her that when she walks to school every day, she can think about why she needs to have so much attention, much to Cecilia’s dismay.

After a while, although he cares for her a lot, Raymond still has not fallen in love with Aquamarine. They meet on the pier where Cecilia interrupts and pushes Aquamarine into the ocean but she screams in horror and runs away right after realizing what she has done when she notices that Aquamarine is actually a real mermaid. Aquamarine's father calls her back home in a giant storm, but Hailey and Claire swim after her as Aquamarine tries to defy her father again. They discover the meaning of platonic love and Aquamarine's father is satisfied knowing love is real, and the girls receive their wish. They decide to not use it to keep Hailey from moving away, and instead, they part ways with Aquamarine, with promises of Aquamarine visiting them and Raymond and loving each other forever.

Cast

 * Sara Paxton as Aquamarine
 * Emma Roberts as Claire 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
 * Julia Blake as Jessica
 * Alice Hunter as BG

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

Reception
Aquamarine received mixed reviews. It holds a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating, "A lighthearted, gum-smacking, boy-crazy film with a hopeful message for young girls."[2] On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds 51/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[3]

Box office
In its opening weekend, Aquamarine grossed $7.5 million in 2,512 theaters, ranking #5 at the box office. By the end of its run, the film grossed $18.6 million domestically, and $4.4 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $23 million.[1]

Soundtrack
Two of the film's main stars, Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton, were featured on the soundtrack. JoJo, however, an accomplished singer with one album out did not take part. In 2008, La La Land Records released a limited edition CD (1000 pressings) of David Hirschfelder's score (incorporating the voice of Sara Paxton) for the film.
 * 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" – Nick Jonas
 * 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
 * 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[4]
 * "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" – Weezer
 * "Big Wave – Pearl Jam
 * "Underground" – Puretone
 * "Smile" – Vitamin C