5/5 Mermaid
  by T. Leary (FL)
Although this show brings tears to your eyes, it is a wonderful show. You watch a family deal with the death of the father, explaining his death as simply as possible for a very young child to understand. Anyone who has lost a close family member will find this very therapeutic. Anyone else watching it might find it very helpful in their relationship with others who are going through a similiar situation. It is a must see movie for those who love people and want to be able to put into words those feelings you just can't express otherwise.

5/5 Mermaid
  by Doris V. Simpson
I love stories that are based on true events and show the real charactors at the end. The movie is very touching but also shows there is a God who knows the hearts of children and cares about their understanding of Him and that He hears and answers prayers. My grandson who just turned 5yrs. old watched it with me and when his daddy came home from work he told the whole story with excitement! Thankyou for making it available.

5/5 Mermaid (movie)
  by Susanna Laimbeer
This is a great movie, and a tear jerker! It is based on a true story about a five year old girl whose dad dies and she writes him a letter in heaven, which then gets found by a family living in a place called "Mermaid!"

It is well acted, and the little girl who plays the title role is just great in it!

3/5 Disappointing and Much Too Long
  by Nenah Sylver (sunny Arizona)
This film is based on a true story. Grieving Desi (Jodelle Ferland) is not coping well with the death of her dad. Emotionally dissociated (she refers to herself in the third person), she asks incessant questions: where is her father, and when can she talk to him. Desi's mom Rhonda (Samantha Mathis), losing the house she had built with her now-deceased husband, takes the little girl and moves in with her mother Trish (Ellen Burstyn). Rhonda remains stoic, despite Trish's attempts to get her to cry, and act on her romantic interest in a man (David Kaye) who likes her too. Both Grandma and Mom are worried about Desi, who has become so self-destructive, she locks herself in the bathroom and slashes off some hair, and wanders in a field at night dangerously near a thresher.

As Desi continues to be unmanageable and slips into a fantasy world, Rhonda has her send her father a letter, propelled skyward tied to a helium-filled balloon. In several days, the message reaches Prince Edward Island from California. The Canadian family who finds the letter writes back. They also send Desi a gift for her fifth birthday, explaining that since there are no stores in heaven, her father asked them to send the gift for him. After receiving the package from Canada, Desi's wounds are magically healed and she no longer refers to herself in the third person. After the extraordinary tale makes it into the newspapers, readers spontaneously send the destitute family money for airfare, Rhonda takes Desi to Canada to visit the family, and everyone relaxes and is happy again.

What might have been a really good film fails in almost all areas. Most of the acting is wooden. While visually cute, Desi speaks her many lines with no discernible emotion, soul or substance, and with an incessantly high-pitched, whiny voice that tires the ear. Samantha Mathis, who was excellent in A Stranger's Heart, plays Rhonda with an inscrutable face and you never quite get a sense of what she's really going through. The only good acting is from Ellen Burstyn, whose character has great believability and depth, and David Kaye, who manages to convey a lot without saying much. But even their acting cannot save this poorly written movie. The family's problems are tortuously dragged out: Desi's mentally ill antics, which dominate over an hour of the 90-minute film, should have been whittled down to 25 minutes.

One coy plot manipulation is especially over the top: Blu Mankuma, a very good actor, is placed in various roles (graveyard attendant, ice cream man, balloon seller, postman), apparently to convey the idea that an "angel" is present. But there's no need for such contrivance. The true story would have carried this movie very nicely, in its own right--if only the writer and director hadn't piled on the schmaltz.

The best part of the film is the end, when we see the real California and Canadian families. (Unfortunately, one must strain to see their faces through the credits.) Desi is now a teenager, shown interacting with Jodelle--who, when she spontaneously talks, appears much more intelligent and vital than the character she portrayed. The real mother and grandmother project enormous presence and heart, and the Canadian couple likewise project great heart. It's really too bad that no documentary was made of these families; it would have been infinitely more interesting than the film itself. Showing the real families brought this 2 star movie up to 3 stars.

Why does Hollywood feel that it must embellish what can stand on its own merits? From other sites, it appears that Rhonda and her ex-husband had been divorced, and that he had then committed suicide. If you want to read the "lite" version of the story behind this tear-jerking tale, it's in one of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books, written by Margo Pfeiff.

5/5 MERMAID.. should be a classic
  by mishimoon (florida)
a story about a little girl who lost her father and never had a chance to say goodbye, i don't want to ruin it for you, but i loved this movie!!

this story was so well written,and the actors were the best..this would help any family with children that has a death in the family, whether a dad or mom, grandparent...etc..
ellen burstyn was as usual at her best,Samantha Mathis, Jodelle Ferland, David Kaye, Peter Flemming made this movie a hit with me. i will remember this balloon idea if i ever need it and i have collected mermaids for years ,so this was a special story for me....