Verdict: A generic and sentimental romantic drama.
If you're a fan of Nicholas Spark's romantic novels and their screen adaptations, such as tear-jerkers The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, and A Walk to Remember, then stock up on tissues because The Last Song is more of the same.
This is Miley Cyrus's first non-Hannah Montana role, and althoughher character Ronnie Miller contains plenty of Cyrus/Montana spirit, the challenge appears to be just a little out of her reach.
The Last Song is a schmaltzy film about relationships; about how life-changing and heartbreaking they can be. It's the story of a young woman who reconnects with her estranged father, finds her first true love and saves some baby turtles, all of which help her figure out just who she is.
Ronnie, a rebellious, musically gifted 17-year-old is still bitter about her parents' divorce. Along with younger brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) she is sent from New York to spend the summer with her father Steve (Kinnear) on Tybee Island, Georgia, and she doesn't hold back in letting her father know how unhappy she is to be there.
Cyrus handles the stroppy teenager part well, as she does her budding romance with the local hunk Will Blakelee, played by Aussie Liam Hemsworth. At first, Ronnie dislikes this rich, beach volleyball playing, volunteer aquarium worker/part time mechanic, but their mutual desire to save the local sea life wins her over.
Things start getting a little tough acting wise for Cyrus when all these relationships start to crumble. Tybee might look like a laidback kind of town, but it seems everyone is harbouring a tragic secret, all of which impact on Ronnie.
To be fair, it's not Cyrus' fault her performance feels like a series of generic teenage reactions to what is thrown at her, The Last Song is predictable, melodramatic and contrived purely to turn you into a blubbering idiot. No matter how well it may do this, you still leave the cinema feeling as though you've been manipulated, rather than genuinely moved.
Cast: Miley Cyrus, Greg Kinnear Director: Julie Anne Robinson Running time: 107 mins Rating: PG (Violence)
