Better Than I Expected

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2010)

I'm definitely in a minority demographic, a 69 year old man who took his long time lady friend to see this because she loved "The Notebook", and as we age, we tend to like sweet, somewhat corny, love stories. I have never seen or heard any "Hannah Montana" material, but the review in Entertainment Weekly gave this movie a "B", so we went. I thought Miley Cyrus did an okay job, and Liam, her love interest, while too perfect, typified these types of movies. However, Greg Kinnear, and particularly, Bobby Coleman, who I later learned was the child star of "Martian Child",which I liked, were both excellent, and gave the predictable story some really fine moments. It isn't meant to be a "great film", just a pleasant teen first-love story, with a little pathos added, like the Erich Segal stories of the 70's. I think critics that panned this, while praising movies like "There Will Be Blood", are writing more for themselves than for most of the people who actually attend movies regularly. I really enjoyed this movie, and while it had some shortcomings, overall we both had a very nice time. I recommend it as a date movie that will make you laugh a little and shed a few tears, while hopefully having a good time too.