The Last Song (2010)

My Rating: 5 out of 10

Like other novels of Nicholas Sparks which have been turned into movies, "The Last Song" joins the very collection. The movie is a coming of age romantic drama and depicts the same emotions and story as of the other Nicolas Sparks' writings. The story deals with death, love and disease. The movie is set in Georgia at a house at the beach.

The movie is a directorial debut of Julie Anne Robinson. It stars teen pop star Miley Cyrus as Veronica "Ronnie" L. Miller, an angry, rebellious eighteen year old forced to spend a summer with her estranged father. Greg Kinnear as Steve Miller, Ronnie and Jonah's father and former Juilliard School professor and concert pianist who moved to Georgia after his divorce. Liam Hemsworth as Will Blakelee, a popular and skilled beach volleyball player, Will aspires to attend a top university and volunteers at the Georgia Aquarium. He is Ronnie's love interest. Kelly Preston as Kim, Ronnie and Jonah's mother who raised her children in New York City after her divorce. Bobby Coleman as Jonah Miller, Ronnie's younger brother sent along with his elder sister to Tybee Island.

The movie starts with Ronnie and his brother being sent to their father in Georgia to spend the summer. She used to play piano but after her father's divorce, she had not played since. It's been three years and she is still angry with her father. After arrival, Ronnie becomes miserable, defiant, and defensive towards all those around her. Including handsome, popular Will Blakelee whose introduction involved crashing into her during a volleyball match, and accidentally spilling Ronnie's strawberry shake on her. Later on, Ronnie discovers a Loggerhead Sea Turtle nest at the beach by her house and while protecting it, she meets Will again on his volunteer work for the aquarium. After a night of staying up to defend the turtles with Will, she discovers he is deeper than she believed, and begins to have feelings for him. As Ronnie falls in love with Will, she also manages to form a better and stronger bond with her father. As their relationship deepens, Will invites her to his sister's wedding. Meanwhile, she helps a girl Blaze with her problems which resembles the kind and delicate side of Ronnie behind all her estranged behaviour. Her father was given the name "arsonist" after as people and he believed that he accidently burned down the church.  Later that day, the turtle eggs hatch and her father collapses with a coughing seizure that evening. Ronnie immediately has Steve rushed to a hospital. Further, the story deals with her love for her father after his ill health and obstacles in her relationship with Will. Steve has been working on a piece of music for quite a while and due to his ill health it remained incomplete. The title of the movie comes from this last song.

The movie's setting and its scenario is one of the beautiful things. The soundtrack tries to bring out the emotions of the characters. The songs "When I Look At You" and "I Hope You Find It" are some of them. Despite these things the movie does lose its grip. The direction and screenplay is out of motion. One scene focuses into another in spite of any real plot connection. Miley Cyrus's acting is lose and it seems that she does not have any range. She is not able to portray the character up to the mark and it becomes tiresome at some points. Even though looking at the movie in an isolate manner, it does have a beautiful story which could have been made with more deeper acting and emotions. Unlike other movies of Nicholas Sparks' novels such as "The Notebook" and a "A Walk To Remember", it has a similarity but offers a slightly new picture. As Sparks this time acts as an estranged and angry 18 year old girl. Overall, the movie was quite a watch and I would suggest it for those people who have time to kill and enjoy a light romance.

The book from Nicholas Sparks is available at The Last Song !!