Heart-tugging and addictive, Nicholas Sparks gives his take on teen angst

Rating: 7/10 (8 March 2016)

'The Last Song' is another Nicholas Sparks adaption and one of the weaker ones. It's also been aimed at the teen angst audience with Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth as the romantic leads. On that note I guess if I was 20-ish years younger I would have enjoyed it more than I did.
The story is predictable and heart-wrenching, because well, Nicholas Sparks wrote it and he loves to torture us, following a father and daughter who after a long estrangement slowly reconnect over a summer in a small Southern beach town through their mutual love of music.
Cyrus plays the bitter wild-child Ronnie who falls for the often shirtless but very employable Will. They both have a lot of secrets and struggle to carry this movie as newbie actors. Miley giggles and squeals her way through the romance while Liam just stands about looking good.
I did enjoy Greg Kinnear as the doomed father and the boy playing his son was like a breathe of fresh air. As with all of Sparks' movies the coastal scenery is beautiful and the storyline about forgiveness, acceptance and family shamelessly manipulative but oh so addictive. 2/14/16