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MOVIE REVIEW
The Last Song
Daddy Dearest, Kleenex
Nearest
Miley Cyrus as Ronnie and Greg Kinnear as Steve, Ronnie's dad, in "The Last
Song", directed by Julie Anne Robinson.
Touchstone Pictures/Disney
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
THE POPCORN REEL
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Author Nicholas Sparks co-writes the script from his book The Last Song,
resulting in an average movie, tarnished by relentless manipulation and
symbolism often substituting for the earnest efforts of its actors. "The
Last Song", which opened today across the U.S. and Canada, is a better, more
active film than the previous screen-adapted Sparks' novel ("Dear John",
February), but no less aggravating. Julie Anne Robinson
directs.
Ronnie (Miley Cyrus) is spending a summer with her estranged father (Greg
Kinnear) about whom many of the local Georgia townsfolk have said nasty things.
She despises him and doesn't want to stay in his isolated house by the water.
(At this point Mr. Sparks may already be sending the audience a message:
unstable/tense household near water = proximity to tears.)
Ronnie is a rebel, but her brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) has the energy and
enthusiasm to light up a thousand midnights. For Jonah, summer with his
dad is like being in a candy store without having to pay for anything. The
film's first major scene begins in virtually identical ways to the initial major
scene in "Dear John", with a topless Abercrombie & Fitch-looking young man (Liam
Hemsworth) interacting with a damsel-in-emotional-distress on a beach.
The film's sanguine visions get progressively suffocated by the melancholy
circling its edges. Still, Miley Cyrus doesn't do badly here, moving away
from her famed alter ego Hannah Montana. Nevertheless, there's
overcompensation in her performance early on, purposefully designed for the
predictable mood of the film's final scenes. A welcome distraction from
the leaden seriousness is Mr. Coleman, who keeps the audience from prematurely
collapsing into tears with his charisma and confidence, holding his own against
his more established onscreen counterparts.
You are led to the inevitable reckoning by Mr. Sparks and Jeff Van Wie.
Romance is interwoven with the more dour undercurrents of life. The two
themes don't easily subsist or co-exist; one story is a distraction from the
other. A belated subplot is thrown in solely to accentuate the weepy
donuts that "The Last Song" is waiting to unleash on its audience.
Melodrama enters the stage and on cue, Ms. Robinson's film, like a puppy dog
that cries, "weep for me, please", obliges.
With: Kelly Preston, Hallock Beals, Nick Lashaway, Carly Chaikin, Kate Vernon,
Melissa Ordway, Nick Searcy, Adam Barnett, Carrie Malabre, Lance E. Nichols.
"The Last Song" is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for
thematic material, some violence, sensuality and mild language. The film's
running time is one hour and 43 minutes.
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
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