Forced and predictable, but better than it could've been

Rating: 3/10 (12 March 2011)

I saw this movie for two reasons. One is that it is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks. The other is the wonderful Greg Kinnear. I will be frank, the book is much more engrossing emotionally and the characters and story are far more believable. The Last Song isn't completely unwatchable. Greg Kinnear is brilliant and definitely the best asset of the film, the film does look good with pleasant scenery and cinematography and the soundtrack is tolerable.
However, I didn't find myself connecting to any of the characters except for Steve or their situations. Here, the characters are quite clichéd and I found myself frustrated with the titular character so many times. The story is weak and predictable and the script is poor too with any attempt at evoking emotion feeling uncomfortably forced.
The direction is lacking and the pace is sluggish. The acting apart from Kinnear is hardly noteworthy, I do not like Miley Cyrus and I never found her acting and her attempts to come across as sympathetic and honest believable at all. Out of all the movies based on Sparks' books, which includes the wonderful Notebook, surprisingly decent Dear John and the touching Message in a Bottle, The Last Song is my least favourite. On a positive note, it did have one or two good assets which altogether made it better than it could have been. 3/10 Bethany Cox