Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
49
2012
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
70
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
52
Blind Side
47
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
23
Couples Retreat
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
41
G-Force
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
xx
Ninja Assassin
xx
Old Dogs
28
Pandorum
58
Pirate Radio
39
Planet 51
xx
Princess & the Frog, The
53
Road, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
45
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
39
Adventures of Power
66
Afterschool
73
Amreeka
49
Antichrist
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
71
Big Fan
65
Black Dynamite
76
Bliss
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
78
Broken Embraces
70
Bronson
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
60
Collapse
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
53
Dare
50
Defamation
67
Departures
70
Earth Days
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
88
Fantastic Mr. Fox![]()
31
Fix
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
xx
From Mexico with Love
28
Gentlemen Broncos
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
63
Horse Boy, The
74
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
26
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
43
Little Traitor, The
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
46
Love Hurts
84
Maid, The![]()
50
Mammoth
75
Messenger, The
55
Missing Person, The
59
More Than a Game
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
48
New York, I Love You
66
No Impact Man
26
Oh My God
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Red Cliff
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
65
Skin
41
Splinterheads
42
Staten Island
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
58
Storm
82
Sun, The![]()
49
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73
That Evening Sun
61
Trucker
49
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
45
Uncertainty
67
Visual Acoustics
32
War on Kids
67
Way We Get By, The
65
Wedding Song, The
xx
White on Rice
59
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74
Woman in Berlin, A
43
Women in Trouble
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Aquamarine
EMAILPRINTTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 52 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Family/Kids
Written by:
John Quaintance
Jessica Bendinger
Alice Hoffman (novel)
Directed by: Elizabeth Allen
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 3, 2006
DVD: June 13, 2006
Running Time: 109 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG for mild language and sensuality
Starring Emma Roberts, JoJo, Sara Paxton, Jake McDorman, Arielle Kebbel, Claudia Karvan, Bruce Spence, and Tammin Sursok
Following a violent storm, a beautiful and sassy mermaid named Aquamarine washes ashore and into the lives of two best friends about to be parted at summer's end. When Aquamarine falls for a local, hunky lifeguard, she enlists the girls' help to win his heart and in exchange offers to grant the girls one wish. (20th Century Fox)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
The movie has a sweetness and innocence that makes it near perfect entertainment for its target audience.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Undemanding, unsurprising and really quite charming within conventional limits, Elizabeth Allen’s tween-coming-of-age feature debut is as realist as can be, given that, of the three nice Florida girls who need to grow up in the movie, the eponymous heroine (Sara Paxton) is a high-achieving blond mermaid with vaguely feminist leanings, a twitchy blue tail and the comic timing of an up-and-coming Cameron Diaz.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
A bright and breezy tween fantasy romantic comedy that coasts along on its charming performances and the light comedic touch of first-time feature director Elizabeth Allen.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Refreshingly, the movie never wavers in the importance it places on friendship over just about anything else.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Unique because it's the rare movie that fiercely respects the altruistic loyalty that bonds girls to one another.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Won't win points for originality, but the screenplay includes some snappy dialogue, smart observations, and an uplifting message about the importance of friendship.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
It's not the best "Little Mermaid" movie - it's totally predictable and its trio of tweeners squeal at a pitch that could break glass. But it's also a bubbly confection about best friends, crushes on preening lifeguards, grrrl power and shades-of-blue fashion tips.
Read Full Review >USA Today Staff [Not Credited]
Despite corny one-liners and plot developments that don't always hold water, Aquamarine rises above the flotsam filling theaters this time of year with a likable tale of friendship and charming performances.
Read Full Review >Empire Anna Smith
This fantasy comedy should entertain its pre-teen female market – and repel those silly superficial boys (swoon).
Read Full Review >The New York Times Neil Genzlinger
Ms. Paxton isn't quite as magnetic as a movie mermaid ought to be, but the two buddies are a treat to watch, especially Ms. Roberts, showing the genes of her Aunt Julia.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
That everything gets worked out -- friendship affirmed, jokes made about silly magazine articles on reeling in a boy -- is as sure as the soundtrack's inclusion of a Mandy Moore song.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
This is a totally predictable exercise if you're not in the target market.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The film robs mermaids of everything exotic and remarkable about them in mythology.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregg Rickman
Aquamarine will likely please its undemanding tween audience--especially if today's kids are as unsavvy a crew as 20th Century Fox seems to think.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Aquamarine is better than nothing for its woefully underserved audience.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie is awfully sweet. The young actresses playing eighth-graders look their age, for once, and have an unstudied charm.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Winda Benedetti
If "Splash" was a movie for grownups and "The Little Mermaid" was a film for kids, it's safe to say that the latest flick to feature a mermaid is aimed directly at those who are neither adults nor children, but rather lost somewhere in that awkward middle zone in between.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The story has its hokey moments ("There's something very fishy about that girl"), but the sincerity and focus of the storytelling compensate.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Aside from an inspired bit involving a pair of sycophantic starfish, it's amazing how unimaginative a movie about a mermaid can be, and it's sad how thoroughly its girl-power stylings devolve into a muddle of mixed messages.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Like its title heroine, it's sparkly, pretty and flirty--but often all wet.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Adapted (and significantly reshaped) from a young-adult book by novelist Alice Hoffman, Aquamarine has the tossed-off quality of an ABC Family TV movie. Its lessons come pre-digested.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
But for what it is, I think it's pretty okay. It's not going to win an Oscar or anything. But I liked how it was actually made for tween girls.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Gregg Rickman
The film's true focus is the friendship between the two girls, although this tends to get lost between Elizabeth Allen's jittery direction and the screenplay's contrivances.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
It would seem that Allen and screenwriters John Quaintance and Jessica Bendinger couldn't decide between making a movie about the summer that 'tweens become teens or "Scenes From a Mal"l for the MTV set.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 52 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Alona M. gave it a10:
This movie is really amazing and full of fun.. it shows how important the friendship is... i really really love it!!! you rock!!!
Prudence K. gave it a10:
An absolute masterpiece! Direction, writing, technicals... but the acting! Everyone was superb. But Sara Paxton in particular gave one of the best performances I have ever seen. Subtle, heartbreaking, raw, real, emotional... if she doesn't win the Oscar it will be a huge travesty. Easily the performance of the decade, but I would go further and say it is the best performance of all time.
Katherine gave it a3:
Please people who like this movie, forgive me, I am only giving me opinion. I did'nt like this movie. Emma Roberts and JoJo are not that pretty. Put them together and they just look even worst. I think Emma is just here because shes the niece of Julia Roberts, and JoJo , her parents just probably pushed her into singing. I think JoJo is a better singer then an actress, and I don't think her music is that good. This movie I thought was sort of an insult to mermaids. I mean there a fantasy. Leave them that way instead of putting them in Hollywood.
someobody gave it a7:
emma roberts acted the worst here.
Gavin M. gave it an8:
This is a great little movie - and of course it is derivative. But the performances are full of fun, and it is very well written. The two leads ooze a delicious geekiness and longing, the mermaid is initially unlikeable but wins you over in the end, and there is some great writing that makes the minor characters 3 dimensional and important even though they have very little screen time. I got dragged along to this with a 10 year old - it is not a movie I would ever choose to see in the theater, on DVD or on television. However, I found it totally captivating, and if this is the quality of tween movies, I would much rather spend my money on similar movies than on the often bitterly disappointing adult orientated movies that Hollywood has to offer.
Rol L. gave it a7:
To be fair, I went to see the movie with my 2 daughters ( 7 and 10 ) and they would have given this movie a 9... A good saturday afternoon / summer type tween movie, cute, no surprise, fluffy and with 2 girls that cant wait to see this movie again on DVD.
Joanie gave it a10:
I laughed, I cried and I had a very entertaining time.
