I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I jumped on the opportunity to see a press screening of Nicholas Sparks’ latest movie adaptation, ‘The Last Song.’ Yes it stars Miley Cyrus and yes it’s a film that essentially shows Cyrus falling in love with her current real-life main-squeeze, Liam Hemsworth–but I didn’t care. I went anyway. After all, I like ‘The Notebook’ a lot. I even kind of like ‘A Walk to Remember.’
Well, ‘The Last Song’ is not ‘The Notebook.’ Miley Cyrus is, simply put, a strangely cast lead for a romance. Her character, Ronnie, is supposed to be the rebel teenage girl who softens up and learns what life is really about (sigh)–love! family! living life to the fullest because it’s so short!–and transforms accordingly over the course of the film. But Cyrus plays rebel Ronnie as exceedingly and awkwardly coarse in the beginning–there is no other way to describe it. Her acting kept pulling me out of the story and making me roll my eyes–granted, I expect a good deal of eye rolling at a Nicolas Sparks movie, but still.
Greg Kinnear’s acting as dear-ole-dad saves the film, at least as much as Kinnear can save a canned, predictable weepie a la Sparks starring Cyrus and her beau. The second half of the movie is better than the first–but be warned: also typical Sparks, prepare for tragic death.
One last confession: I shed tears. I did. I couldn’t help myself. Thank goodness the theater was dark. You will too if you go. In theaters March 31st.