I
will admit that this is not the type of
film I generally enjoy, but seeing it a
second time won me over… somewhat.
It could possibly because the second time
around I saw it in a sold-out theater with
several hundred adolescent girls (or so
it seemed, the shrill of screaming girls
is exponentially louder when there are several
of them together). On most occasions that
might seem like torture, but when one of
those girls is mine, the experience was
not so bad.
The Last Song, also a novel on the national
bestseller list, is Nicholas Sparks first
attempt at writing a screen play. It’s
also Miley Cyrus’s (who plays Ronnie
Miller) first gig as a dramatic actress.
In fact the script was actually written
with her specifically in mind.
Steve
and Kim Miller (Greg Kinnear and Kelly Preston)
play the divorced parents of Ronnie and
Jonah. Said divorce has left Ronnie bitter
and unenthused about spending the summer
with her Dad and younger brother on a small
island where her Dad grew up, a world away
from New York City where she is from. The
divorce has also caused her to give up playing
the piano; a natural talent that she is
so gifted with she was offered a scholarship
to Julliard without even an audition. Ronnie
is caught up in teen rebellion – shoplifting,
dating the wrong boys, ignoring her curfew
– and the bitterness she holds for
her father is evident from the onset of
the movie. Oddly enough, on her first day
on the island she is able to hook up with
the wrong crowd again and a continuation
of the troubles she faced in NYC seem to
continue. When these friends betray her
and her Dad seems to believe in her when
no one else will, she begins to have a change
of heart. She meets a “good boy”
(Will – played by Liam Hemsworth)
who obviously loves her in spite of, or
because of, her flaws and falls into a summer
romance that gives her a new perspective
on life. That is, until she is disappointed
with life again. Ronnie has to learn that
love is not perfect and as her Dad tells
her “a gift that we are all too careless
with”.
Sparks fans will be happy to know that there
is a good amount of innocent romance, an
appreciation for the typical dysfunctional
family and even an excuse to grab the Kleenex
several times by the end of the flick. The
idea of the character of Ronnie, a rebellious
teen that reads Anna Karenina and saves
endangered sea turtles, is a good one –
but I’m not sure Miley did it justice.
The several hundred before mentioned screaming
girls would disagree I’m sure. There
were lots of squeals each time Ronnie and
Will kissed, a good amount of sniffles and
tears and a hefty round of applause at the
end of the movie. It’s a sweet film,
has a good message and is safe for tweeners
and above.
Caedyn’s Review (screaming girl –
9 years old):
The Last Song was a masterpiece movie that
has Miley Cyrus in it. I love Miley Cyrus
because she is a great singer and actress.
She can play the piano very well in this
movie. In the movie her name is Ronnie,
it is short for Veronica. She has to go
live with her Dad for the summer because
her parents are divorced. She was not excited
about doing this because her Dad left her
Mom and she is angry. She does some bad
things and is mean to her Dad at the beginning
of the movie. She tries to save some sea
turtle eggs on the beach and meets a boy
named Will that works at the Aquarium. She
likes the turtles and the boy and they start
to make her happy again. Her and her Dad
become friends again but he gets sick right
after the sea turtles hatch. This part was
sad.
My favorite part of the movie is when Ronnie’s
Dad gives her money to buy a dress for a
fancy wedding she is going to with Will.
She gives the money away to her friend Blaze
because she doesn’t have anywhere
to live. Her little brother then gives her
his life savings because he likes Will and
doesn’t want Ronnie to be embarrassed
at the wedding. I would maybe do this for
my big brother, I’m not sure. I also
really like the sea turtles. I would tell
all my friends to go see this movie because
it is very good and Miley Cyrus is very
talented. There is some kissing but not
too much if you are probably 3rd grade or
above. It’s romantic. It is also very
sad and will make you cry but it helped
make the movie really good.
Now
in Theaters 
