Movie Review - The Last Song

The Last Song is another sum of typical Nicholas Sparks’ parts. Moving far away plus young love plus fatal disease equals sultry melodrama made for 14 year olds. That being said, if you aren’t 14 but enjoy a good ol’ cheesy love story and are infatuated with Miley Cyrus (like, ahem, me) this movie may be for you.

Stepping aside from her boisterous role as Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus stars in her first feature film that doesn’t include wearing a blonde wig and jumping around on stage. Sparks wrote the novel with Cyrus in mind for the movie, so naturally she fits the role of the recent high school graduate and plays it with the right amount of confusion and angst. Cyrus ditches her Tennessee accent, mostly, and, as a piano prodigy, has had to learn a new instrument.

Ronnie Miller (Cyrus) and her younger brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) spend the summer in Georgia with their estranged father (Greg Kinnear) at his beach house. Their mother (Kelly Preston) drops them off with hugs, but no real explanation as to why they’re there. Ronnie is pissed she’s away from New York and it’s clear she’s had a major falling out with her father. She gets angry when he plays piano and the instrument’s holes indicate that she once took a baseball bat to it.

Ronnie quickly makes friends with some of the more risqué characters in town (one even juggles fire!) and forms a sudden enemy when a cute volleyball player spills a milkshake all over her (hasn’t this happened on Hannah Montana before?). Obviously the cute volleyball player can’t be all that bad - I mean, he’s cute. He’s also Liam Hemsworth, Cyrus’ real-life boyfriend. Will (Hemsworth) and Ronnie bond over normal teenage things, and Ronnie reluctantly gives into love, even if she does yell “I didn’t come here from New York for some stupid teenage romance!”

Ah, but that’s exactly what happens. Ronnie and Will frolic on the beach, make out in ocean waves in all their clothes and throw mud on each other when Will’s truck gets stuck in the woods. Because this is a Sparks story, a class difference momentarily divides the couple. Will lives in a mansion and his uppity parents insist he go to Vanderbilt University. Ronnie is upset that Will keeps this a secret, until she remembers her own secret—her piano playing skill. She rushes over to his piano and plays a variation of “When I Look At You” and the two fall deeper in love.

Will opens Ronnie up to happiness, which in turn brings Ronnie closer to her father. With no friends in Georgia, Ronnie gushes to her dad about her new crush. This seems a little strange considering she refused to talk to him for weeks, but we can quickly get over that. Ronnie plays piano more and even considers going to Julliard in the fall. And just when Ronnie’s life seems to be going perfectly, her father collapses in the dunes of the beach and is rushed to the hospital. It turns out he’s had cancer for a while and this summer was a way for him to grow closer to his kids.

This movie is wholly enjoyable if you enjoy any Sparks movie and are willing to accept clichés with wide-open arms. The story is typical with no big surprises, but the emotions seem genuine and the acting is generally good. Cyrus is excellent at being both sullen and completely in love, even if the change seems sudden. Liam Hemsworth really only has to smile to get my approval. I was more focused on his cute, boy-next-door grin and beautifully sculpted abs to pay attention to what came out of his mouth. Kinnear plays Ronnie’s father in a very calm manner, especially for a guy with terminal cancer. And I hate to say it, but Bobby Coleman, who plays Ronnie’s brother, is distractingly annoying. It’s not entirely his fault; much of the blame is on the script. When children are excited, they don’t necessarily yell, “I’m excited!” which is what Coleman does. I, strangely, felt relief once the father got sick and Coleman’s loud, random outbursts of joy turned into downcast eyes and believable crying—the kid is far better at being fake sad than fake happy.

One last thing—the song playing in the trailer, Cyrus’ “When I Look at You,” is not “the last song” like the movie’s title implies. The 7-year-old next to me in the theatre was relieved when the aforementioned song was played during the credits—“Finally! Miley’s going to sing!” This isn’t Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus in Concert Part 2 (in 3D!), nor is it Hannah Montana the Movie: The Second. It’s Cyrus in a much different role, one with less wigs and where the only dancing is slow dancing.