This is one of those movies that probably looked better on paper than it did in film. It's a short story about a girl named Skye who wants to be a celebrity lifeguard and needs this woman (Nikki) to help her train for some unknown reason. I've no idea how Skye knows that Nikki has life-guarding skills in the first place or why she's so keen on having Nikki in particular do it, despite being rebuffed and almost drowned by her; the character is far too young to have sexual motives, so the entire situation seems a bit contrived.
Having said that, it sort of works overall, even if some of the dialogue is silly in places. Nikki is being constantly tailed by a minder and apparently has some sort of dark secret that's never revealed (this sounded like a far more interesting plot device, but unfortunately it doesn't go anywhere). Yeah, okay I get the plethora of obvious metaphors, but the implication that the Skye "saves her life" (in a manner that no one - especially not a kid - ever would), isn't exactly true; after all's said and done, Nikki's situation is no better at the end than it was as at the start.
On a final note: The casting left me somewhat puzzled. The only named character that I remember was Skye (I don't think Nikki's name was ever mentioned) and I don't remember any of the other named characters either, so I'm left wondering who they were. Maybe there's an extended cut floating around somewhere - that might explain a lot.
Having said that, it sort of works overall, even if some of the dialogue is silly in places. Nikki is being constantly tailed by a minder and apparently has some sort of dark secret that's never revealed (this sounded like a far more interesting plot device, but unfortunately it doesn't go anywhere). Yeah, okay I get the plethora of obvious metaphors, but the implication that the Skye "saves her life" (in a manner that no one - especially not a kid - ever would), isn't exactly true; after all's said and done, Nikki's situation is no better at the end than it was as at the start.
On a final note: The casting left me somewhat puzzled. The only named character that I remember was Skye (I don't think Nikki's name was ever mentioned) and I don't remember any of the other named characters either, so I'm left wondering who they were. Maybe there's an extended cut floating around somewhere - that might explain a lot.
