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April 2, 2010

"The Last Song" movie reviews

Nicholas Sparks churns out movies the way James Patterson mass-produces books, and this week his latest adaptation, "The Last Song," comes to theaters. Seems like just yesterday that "Dear John" appeared. (It was early February.) Sparks movies are a known commodity -- reviewers hate them for their tragedy-tinged romance, but viewers love them. Miley Cyrus' starring role is sure to attract even more fans. Here are excerpts of reviews for "The Last Song" (you can read reviews for other book adaptations here):


Los Angeles Times -- There aren't a lot of surprises in store when a film is struck from Nicholas Sparks and is called "The Last Song." There will be young love in the picturesque South, there will be a battery of contrivances keeping those crazy kids apart, and there will be tragedy and much rending of hair.


Variety -- Cyrus, alas, hasn't yet learned not to act with her eyebrows and overbite. But she does show off her considerable chops as a pianist and remains reasonably likable throughout.


Chicago Tribune -- "The Last Song" is primarily for teenagers looking for something disposable to cry about for a couple of hours, though I did find it a tad easier to take than "Dear John," which was slicker but more galling in its heartstring-yanking.

Washington Post -- Will "The Last Song" resonate with a certain generation of young women the way, say, "The Notebook" has? I'm not sure. The audience I saw it with responded with as many giggles as sniffles ...

New York Times -- Another big problem is Ms. Cyrus. Her Hannah Montana persona has a certain aggressive charm ... and she seems to be a young celebrity with a good attitude and a strong work ethic. But acting, for the moment at least, seems almost entirely beyond her.

USA Today -- When the story revolves around the romance, it's mostly predictable beach montages and goofy antics. But things improve when gears shift to probe [father Greg] Kinnear's character. His affability invests the sappy tale with some authenticity.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:00 PM | | Comments (23)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Comments

this movie was amazing!! i did cry but it was a romantic and heart warming movie!! i highly suggest you to see it!

This movie is amazing i saw it today & it was amazing i love it! its mii fav movie everrr!!!!!! i cried but i loved it amazinggggg!!!!!!

Went with a group from the office - 40something ladies we are - all Miley and Sparks fans....I had expect not to be surprised - thought it would be predictable coming of age story. The father and the brother added a different element to the story. Showing how relationships affect the whole family...not just the one. I found the movie to be very sweet and refreshing...much the way I find Miley Cyrus. My co-worker said she expected to cry at the end but not start in the middle all the way through to the end....

Went to the movies with my friend. Got home and my mom asked me how it was. I told her I cried the whole ending. But the movie is amazing! My favorite movie ever. Heres a tip for people going to see the last song: Bring Tissues!

After reading the Last Song I could not wait to see the movie. I was not disappointed. The movie was fantastic!!!! I went with my daughter and 2 of her friends and we all laughed and cried and absolutely loved everything about it.

extremely good i saw it with a group of my girlfriends and we all cried at the end but thought the movie was excellent!

many r saying that this movie wasnt good. i loved it soo much. bring tissues cause the last half hour was soo sad. dont listen to them it was a really good movie these newspapers r just so crude and old who just hate miley. i thought she was greatt.

I read a lot and I always think of what the movie would be like, the actors had the look imagined but they didn't play the part, part of it has to do with their lines there was no meat in this movie and a lot of important parts were ripped out.. I feel like if I didn't read the book I would have been confused on why it was going really slow at times then towards the ending they just threw it together, I hated the movie and thought it was awful, Miley Cyrus cannot do serious at all, I was trying not to laugh. rachel bilson is the actress I had in mind forRonnie .. Ronnie was
suppose to be so strong and indepedeny, Miley acted like Ronnie couldn't even make a sandwich alone if she needed to it was pathetic

Saw the movie yesterday with a friend and her teenage daughter. I was impressed. I took my five year old because she likes Miley and surprisingly the movie held her attention. (Not easily done) It was a typical teenage romance that is a great movie to see with a girlfriend or your mom. Found myself laughing out loud a couple of times. All and all a good movie.

i loved the movie this is the best movie ever i really loved it i want to watch it like so many more times miley cyrus is like so the best eve i loved the movie so much miley cyrus can act and sing she is a great actor and a singer rock on miley i did cry at the end of the movie

I've been checkin up on this movie for age's..!It look's really good..! when is it coming to Ireland..? can't stop talking about it won't to see it so much..! absoulutly love Miley..! she's amazing..!

HEY LAUREN BEFORE YOU WRITE PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.
1.NICHOLAS SPARKS WROTE THE SCREENPLAY WAY BEFORE THE BOOK
2.HE WROTE THIS ESPECIALLY FOR MILEY
3.EVERYONE THINKS SHE DID WONDERFUL JUST BECAUSE YOU HATE HER BECAUSE SHES FAMOUS AND IS GOING SOMEWHERE WITH HER LIFE DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEED TO TRASH HER!U DIN'T WRITE THE SCREENPLAY OR BOOK AND YOU DIDN'T CHOSE THE CHARACTERS.AND AGAIN THE STORY WAS WRITTEN FOR MILEY

I have taken my teenager to Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and now The Last Song. By far, we both enjoyed this one the most. She said she saw herself and cried through most of the movie and all the way home. Said she wants to have a better relationship with her father just from seeing this movie and how it relates to real life. I was very impressed with Miley as well.

“The Last Song”
Based on the book written by a #1 bestseller Nicholas Sparks The Last Song is a touching and life changing movie. Played by two great actors Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus, bring the story to life and give it character.
Miley Cyrus or Ronnie is getting into trouble in New York and hanging out with the wrong people, but this summer everything changes. She will be spending her summer with her Dad and brother in Georgia. A much needed father and son bond is made, and will warm your heart. Simultaneously, Liam Hemsworth runs into Ronnie all over town, the two develop a friendship, maybe more. The family runs into a major set back, heartbreak, and separation.
“The Last Song” is an exciting movie at the same time touching. Your emotions will play and ride a rollercoaster of laughter and sadness. It will touch you in some way, and maybe change you. The movie has zero negative standpoints; every decision and choice just thickens the plot and makes it even better.
So powerful and touching “The Last Song” is a tearjerker and Kleenex brand movie, try and keep your self together for one of the most emotional two hours of your life.

I am a huge Nicholas Sparks fan and I loved the book the last song, I however was disappointed with the movie, as I usually am after reading the book. I always feel many key parts are missing from the movie. I understand not every detail can be put into the movie but for me this particular movie left out too many important parts. I did not care for Ms. Cyrus in the role of Ronnie, she was not believable. If I had not read the book I would not have gotten the full understanding of the story. My 16 year old daughter however loved the movie and has not read the book.

No matter what Miley does - it seems like she's always getting (pre)judged for it - people and critics alike bash(ed) on the movie before it even hit the big screen for the first time.

Everyone acts like Miley Cyrus is now (and for some always was) the worst actress ever and for her ever long-following "critics" she's absolutely talent-free in their eyes anyways and gets bashed on whatever she does - Even when she does the job well it's NEVER right for 'em.

Seriously you don't have to be a fan of Miley to say "Well Done" for once - it doesn't hurt to be nice either sometimes and if you ask me Miley doesn't have to prove anything anymore down to talents - she's full of it and even if her acting skills are not on a level of a Julia Roberts yet, she's going in the right direction and to be honest - I have seen much much more worse movies than "The Last Song" and i don't understand why the young(er) stars get so much bashed in advance.

Seriously, some people just hate on "The Last Song" because Miley scored the leading-role and writing a so called review on that kind of terms when you belong to the "Anti-Miley" section anyways isn't really fair - nor professional - But it's all predictable as it wasn't much different with the Hilary Duff movies back in the time when she was Disney's best horse in the box.

"Cinderella Story", "Raise your Voice" as well as "The Perfect Man" solid and quite enjoyable movies - but they earned the worst critics, reviews and comments - Why? because the "Hannah Montana" of the earlier days Hilary Duff was in it.

Anyways, "The Last Song" overall is quite enjoyable - even if you are not really into Miley - and it's as nowhere near bad as they are trying to make u believe it is.

Here in europe 5 stars is the highest a movie could ever reach in ratings - "The Last Song" won't make it to that - but a solid 3.5 up to 4 stars-rating is what this movie would deserve for real - and not the crap you read all around the internet from so called "critics" and reviews just because it has Miley in it - if you disagree or if you still think she's got nothing in stock then try to make it better than she did.

i liked the movie, but mileys acting wasn't that great

I loved this movie. I didn't watch any trailers for it before hand, so that made it even better. I'm not a real big fan of Miley, but I still enjoyed it. It was funny and heartwarming and, for me, unpredictable. The thing that really got me was Ronnie's little brother. He reminds me so much of my little brother. Seeing him cry like that mad me want to cry right along with him. My favorite scene by far was the truck scene. Where Miley and Liam are singing and he yells, "WILL!" So funny.

I never read the book, but the first time I saw this movie, I thought the music choice was great, and the movie was extremely emotional. I had to grab a whole roll of toilet paper simply because it was the closest thing to my waterfalling eyes. Miley is beautiful and she is really funny in her show, but for this part, I don't think she did all too well. She did well, but some parts, I just didn't take her seriously because I kept thinking of her as Hannah Montana. There are just some parts where it looks like she's reading her lines right off the script. The end where she says to Will, "Even the ones we love." It didn't sound sincere at all and it felt as if I had just finished watching a teen chick flick. I didn't understand why she comes to her dad's house, hurts him so much JUST because they separated, and then after she gets kissed, boom, all of a sudden she's miss happy now. And when she goes on that aquariam "date," she turns from a total grump to a jumpy happy little girl. Jonah was right, maybe she did have "Pissed at Men Syndrome." I felt as if the part where she was singing in the truck, was her way of getting into the movie the only thing she feels comfortable with. I felt as if she too quickly went from doing a kid's show, to adulthood. As if she wants to hurry up and be a grown up now now now and make adult movies so not just kids will be her fans. I don't like how she just jumped to "Can't Be Tamed" and then just shocked her young fans by trying to grow up. Take it slow Miley. We know you're beautiful and talented, but you have to take your time.

i dont get why people enjoyed this movie
acting sucked, script was so over-done and predictable. it was just another market scam to earn miley cyrus more non-deserved millions.

my friend and i watched this and predicted the entire film. and it is geared toward our age too.

This movie is wonderful, it teaches you a lesson a way.. not to be so selfish and take things for granted.. i think personally miley did a beatiful job with this movie..

I Lovee this Movie sooo muchh!!! The passionate love between Ronnie and Will is a fresh, tender reminder of teen love at it's best! Miss Cyrus used to be nothing more than the girl on " that kiddy T.V Show" to me, but now i've gained a WHOLE new respect for her! She masters the portrail of Ronnie's inner confilct and deep past, and makes veiwers smile as they watch her fall in Love <3

Interesting movie, but nothing too special.

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About the blogger
Dave Rosenthal came to The Baltimore Sun as a business reporter in 1987 and now is the Maryland Editor. He reads a wide range of books (but never as many as he'd like), usually alternating between non-fiction and fiction. Some all-time favorites: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole; Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery; and anything by Calvin Trillin or John McPhee. He belongs to a book club with a Jewish theme.
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