The Last Song - A Review

Rating: 6/10 (9 February 2011)

To begin with, I usually do not like Miley Cyrus' movies because she is too boisterous, too in your face and too silly. But in "The Last Song," they toned all of that down and the result, quite surprisingly, was a film that I actually enjoyed. "The Last Song" is not perfect. Miley Cyrus, who plays Veronica, is not yet ready for roles that require depth of emotion. Take the scenes where her character is angry with her love interest Will (Liam Helmsworth) or is meant to be devastated on learning of her father's (played very well by Greg Kinnear) cancer and you will see what I mean. Nevertheless, in those light hearted scenes, Cyrus' Veronica is as likable as she is entertaining. It is this good natured, occasionally funny and always warm spirit, conveyed by Cyrus' Veronica, Helmsworth's Will (who is most believable as the cool, likable guy, but less so as the troubled one), Veronica's dad (Kinnear) and brother Jonah (Bobbly Coleman), and a couple other characters, that makes "The Last Song" work. In fact, I think if they edited that part out about the father having cancer, the director and producers would have an even better film on their hands.
As a final note, this teen movie also has wonderful redemptive qualities. There is a scene early in this movie where Will is offered sex by Ashley (Melissa Ordway) who explains that her parents will be out for hours. But Will turns her down because he is not in love with her. What an unexpected and refreshing development: a teen making adult decisions about his own love life! In another scene, Veronica gives a poor girl Galadriel (Carly Chaikin) money because her nasty boyfriend Marcus (Nick Lashaway) threw her out and she has no where to live. Then there are other scenes where Veronica and Will sort out their problems through communication. These scenes are not completely believable, but their morale is undeniable - namely that many misunderstandings can be avoided if two people, who are in love, talk about their problems and how they feel. There are many adults I know who have not picked up on that insight. And I could keep going on. Suffice to say, at a time when so many "teen" films are sexploitative and degrade their characters(particularly the horror flics like "Fear Island" which tries to get by on sex and gore), it is refreshing to find a film that has the confidence to move beyond that and to actually elevate people who are not perfect, but have the potential to become better human beings when given the chance. It is also refreshing to see a film that has the ambition to portray some teens as adults making adult decisions that affect their own lives and the lives of the people around them.
So "The Last Song" is not perfect film. But there is enough good stuff here for me to recommend the film. 6.5/10