OK teen soap start but ends in a bored yawn

Rating: 5/10 (3 May 2014)

Ronnie (Miley Cyrus) and her little brother Jonah are staying with their father Steve Miller (Greg Kinnear) in his beach house for the summer. The rebellious teen is not happy and feels out of place. She got in trouble for shoplifting in NYC. She makes a frienenemy in Blaze (Carly Chaikin), and catches the eye of local Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth). When she tries to save some turtles, she and Will starts a summer romance. He's trying to move on from a loss and she reconnects with music. The local girls aren't too happy. Meanwhile everybody still blames her father for burning down the church.
It's not a particularly original teen rom-com to start. It's a little too light and too sappy. Then as in all Nicholas Sparks novels, this must have some melodrama. Somebody must die or be already dead! Miley Cyrus is a perfectly fine grumpy teen. Liam Hemsworth is the hot young beach dude. The two leads are nice likable kids. Nobody is winning any acting awards here, but it's a fine little teen melodramatic soap start. However the turn does nothing particularly compelling except to let the little air out of the story. The only hope is to have Liam and Miley on screen together no matter what. It doesn't matter if they're fighting or making up. When Liam goes away, the movie's spirit goes away too.