Movie review: “The Last Song”
From Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman. 2 1/2 of 4 stars.
‘Last Song’ serves as Hannah Montana’s weepy swan song
Teen star Miley Cyrus takes a sizeable but savvy step away from her “Hannah Montana” persona with “The Last Song,” an effective if overstuffed weepy from best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks (“The Notebook,” “Dear John”).
The film marks Cyrus’ canny attempt to transition away from the popular Disney Channel series that made her an acting/singing sensation with tween girls. Cyrus’ manager-mom Tish Cyrus even served as executive producer, with Sparks tailoring the story just for the young star. Cyrus, 17, again plays a musically talented teen, but this time one dealing with countless grown-up issues.
That’s barely exaggeration: Sparks’ tendency to heap drama after drama on his characters nearly undoes the film. His script calls upon Cyrus’ Ronnie to contend with divorce, first love, abusive relationships, class warfare, mean girls, serious illness and more. Naturally, this forces director Julie Anne Robinson to glue the movie together with more montages than a high school yearbook.
“The Last Song” opens as bitterly rebellious Ronnie and her chipper kid brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) travel from New York to a picturesque Georgia beach town to spend the summer with their estranged father, Steve (Greg Kinnear). Ronnie blames her composer/pianist father for their parents’ divorce, and to spite him, she has given up her piano studies despite a scholarship offer from Juilliard.
Ronnie spends most of her time stewing in cynicism until she saves a nest of turtle eggs from hungry raccoons. Her act of kindness leads to a relationship with courtly and hunky aquarium volunteer Will (Liam Hemsworth), and the thrill of young love helps Ronnie shed her bitter shell. But Ronnie has daunting trust issues, and both Will and her father are harboring secrets that could break her heart.
Though she still uses her long locks as a kind of emotive crutch, Cyrus puts in a respectable performance, sparking strong chemistry with her co-stars and rolling with Sparks’ frequent plot turns. Ronnie’s surly attitude and single curse word may turn off some Cyrus fans and their parents.
While Cyrus essentially carries the film, Coleman, 12, manages to upstage the entire cast, not only delivering the best lines with aplomb but also shattering hearts in the film’s heavier moments.
It has too many verses and dramatic flourishes, including more than a few eye-rolling embellishments, but “The Last Song” hits enough right notes to induce laughter, tears and fond feelings toward families and first loves.
— BAM
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I first read the book which I loved! The movie was good, but I was disappointed with the characters and elements left out of the film that were included in the book. I am not a critic, but I felt they left out vital elements that helped soften Ronnie’s character. Making it secular was a mistake – I missed the role of the pastor & the Dad looking to the Bible to fill the void in his life. The part in the book where Ronnie realizes her father possesses the “fruits of the spirit” brought about raw emotion! Her love for him was defined in that moment. And I hated the stain glass in the movie. What church puts a cherub in their stainglass? It was downright ugly!! Other than all that – I enjoyed the film today.