Aquamarine is the kind of film you might come across when channel-flicking on a rainy Sunday afternoon. And, if you're feeling bored enough, it may actually hold your attention for a couple of hours.

It's an entertaining, if saccharine, story about two young girls who make a wish and find a mermaid has magically washed up from the sea into their swimming pool. Magic is the important thing here, because, as anyone who's ever seen Splash or The Little Mermaid will know, these beautiful creatures aren't just freaky human/fish hybrids, they're also a little bit mystical.

So no surprise then that this mermaid, Aquamarine (Sara Paxton), is a on a bit of a magical mission herself. She's fighting with her father and needs to prove to him that love is real so that she can escape a dreaded arranged marriage. So the girls, Claire (Emma Roberts) and Hailey (Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque), promise to help their new friend find love, and in exchange she offers them a wish.

But they have to act fast, as Hailey's mother plans to move the family to Australia in three days time, threatening to break the friends up forever. Despite their rush the girls manage to find the time to obsess over boys, fight with bitchy girls and, of course, go shopping. Along the way they learn some valuable lessons about love and friendship and how to manipulate teenage boys into relationships with fish.

The acting isn't awful, especially considering the relative youth of the cast, and the script contains more than a few mildly amusing fish puns. Plausibility is always going to be a problem when you're talking about magical fish, but gaping holes in logic will be ignored by the children it's aimed at.

Aquamarine is an averagely amusing kids' film, but there's no escaping the fact that no-one over the age of thirteen will be able to sit through it without choking slightly on their own vomit.

Anne Marie Conlon

Rated PG (see IFCO website for details)
Aquamarine is released on 23rd June 2006
Aquamarine – Official website