Miley Cyrus all grown up …. yawn
There’s one thing more interesting then actually watching a film based off a Nicholas Sparks novel: gambling on which character will actually die and what from. Usually its cancer, but sometimes it’s a curveball like a car accident. However it is, Sparks claims to be writing the equivalent of a “Greek tragedy” with his doomed romances. It might be easier to think that he enjoys watching women cry. That’s about the only reason why The Last Song seems to exist: to make teenage girls cry.
Following the tale of piano prodigy turned moody teenager Ronnie (Miley Cyrus) sent to live with her father (Greg Kinnear) for a summer after graduating high school, the summer finds her falling in love with the local rich boy (Liam Hemsworth). But nothing is ever happy ever after, per Sparks’ trademark, and the film is intended to be about a girl becoming a woman while dealing with tragedy. In reality, the film is a vehicle for Miley Cyrus to branch out from her “Hannah Montana” roots and into a new career as a movie star (as opposed to a Disney product).
It’s easy to see why Cyrus would be given a plum role like this that normally would go to an actress like Amanda Seyfried (who starred in Dear John, another Sparks adaptation, earlier this year): she has a screen presence few film stars have. She might not have the acting chops others in her generation have in spades, but none have the presence on screen she does. There’s a natural charisma and weight she brings to the screen that manages to make The Last Song a bit better then the “Direct to video” tag a film of this quality normally would get. Cyrus’s presence alone probably would’ve prevented that, but with bigger stars having experienced it lately it wouldn’t have been surprising if this film did. It’s not much better than the drivel normally associated with films not good enough to be released in theatres, of course, but there’s one reason you can point to in the film for this: Greg Kinnear
Kinnear manages to elevate this material beyond any reasonable expectation. With a natural grace and easy-going manner, he brings a certain class to a thankless role. Fathers in this sort of film, even outside of the Sparks subgenre of the romantic drama, rarely have the sort of dignity Kinnear brings to the proceedings. It’s not his best performance, nowhere near it, but given the low level of material provided with it’s a miracle of a performance. During his moments with Cyrus, not a seasoned film actress in any regard, he manages to elevate her subpar performance by virtue of his. It’s interesting to see him working with her, bringing out subtle nuances out of her performance with small things like his reactions and his tone of voice.
The film’s main problems begin (and end) with its subpar script. Sparks, who helped to adapt his novel, throws a helping hand of melodrama into the proceedings like using a sledgehammer to push a thumbtack in. It’s over the top on a regular basis and takes away what could be a nice, small story about a father and his daughter finding a middle ground after a traumatic divorce. It’s deliberate and manipulative without a trace of true, genuine emotion to be found. Insulting to the intelligence, and unintentionally hilarious in major dramatic moments, The Last Song is another in an increasing line of films specifically designed to make women cry. The only time they ought to cry is after the film is over and they realize they can’t get a refund for the wasted time.
Director: Julie Anne Robinson
Notable Cast: Miley Cyrus, Greg Kinnear, Kelly Preston, Liam Hemsworth
Writer(s): Jeff Van Wie and Nicholas Sparks, based on Sparks’ novel “The Last Song”
