My Review: The Last Song (5/10)

“Love is fragile, and we’re not always the best caretakers!”

(5/10) That is one of the many lines you will find in this movie and which you will probably find romantic or cliché. If you enjoyed this line, then you will like the movie, but if you didn´t then stay away from The Last Song because it is a very predictable romantic film. This movie is adapted from Nicholas Spark`s bestselling novel of the same name, and it is also the first film he adapted for the screen as well. Other of his novels have been adapted into films (Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember), but this is the first time he actually adapted one for the big screen. Julie Ann Robinson directed this movie, which to be honest I would have enjoyed more if the two main actors could actually act. The biggest failure of The Last Song was the casting, because the story was actually enjoyable if you get passed all the clichés. I can`t say I had a terrible time at the movies, but Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth really couldn`t carry their dramatic roles, and they were the leads. I really enjoyed Nicholas Spark`s The Notebook, but that film had two great lead actors with great chemistry and that is what The Last Song was missing. The story was decent and it has all the typical Spark elements (including the manipulative melodrama), but the casting didn`t work this time.

The story takes place in Tybee Island, Georgia. Ronnie (Miley Cyrus) is a seventeen year old who is going through a rebellious phase due to her parent`s divorce. Her mother, Kim (Kelly Preston) decides to send her and her little brother, Jonah (Bobby Coleman) to their father`s home in Tybee Island for the summer. Ronnie isn`t too excited about leaving New York City for the small beach town in Georgia, and she isn`t thrilled to see her dad, Steve (Greg Kinnear) either. Steve and Jonah get along really well and begin working on a project together, but his relationship with Ronnie isn´t good at all. Ronnie is a very talented musician and she has been accepted to Julliard, but she refuses to go and has stopped playing music since evidently she is upset at her parents for getting divorced. Her father was the one who had taught her to play the piano and this is her way of showing her discontent. Things will take an unexpected turn when Ronnie falls for a local teen named Will (Liam Hemsworth) who happens to come from a wealthy family, but has issues of his own to deal with.

The Last Song might be a much more entertaining experience if you read the novel, because the movie fails to deliver due to the two main characters, Miley and Liam, who don`t give credible performances. The roles I did enjoy, however, were Greg Kinnear as the father and Bobby Coleman as Jonah. Greg is a great actor and he delivered in every scene, while Bobby had some funny scenes and was very believable as well in his role. The setting of The Last Song was also ideal, the scenery was just beautiful and the atmosphere for the romance was set. If you enjoyed Nicholas Spark`s previous films then you will probably like this movie, although you will have to get past the fact that the two main characters are not very good actors. If you didn´t like his previous movies then you will want to stay away from this one, although I probably don`t have to tell you this. I actually enjoyed his previous films, but this one just didn`t deliver for me. I didn´t think it was a terrible film either, but it could have been much better.

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