The Last Song (review)
Damn you, Greg Kinnear, for making me cry over The Last Song. I was terrified that people would think I was sobbing over TV director Julie Anne Robinson’s tragedy-porn treatment of Nicholas Sparks’ cheap emotional manipulation [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon Canada] [Amazon U.K.], when instead I was sobbing because you are just so damn amazing as a sad dad trying to reconnect with his kids. How you, as an actor, managed to endure being treated the same way as your character is treated by his spoiled, self-centered brat of a teenaged daughter, I don’t know. For this isn’t just a movie about a brat of a teen (Miley Cyrus: Bolt) who thinks the world revolves around her -- the movie itself appears to believe that the world revolves around its tepid, tedious teen romance (with the bland and beautiful Liam Hemsworth: Knowing), and it keeps scowling and storming out -- just like Cyrus’s Ronnie! -- whenever something genuinely interesting is about to happen. Why couldn’t the whole movie be about dad Steve (Kinnear: Green Zone) and young Jonah (Bobby Coleman [Post Grad], also amazing) and their relationship, which is far more compelling? Oh, right: because neither of them are Hannah Montana. Instead, we get a “romantic” mudfight and a cute-dress-trying-on montage and a girl who’s special and deep and “not like the other girls” merely because she reads Tolstoy and rescues sea turtle eggs from raccoons on the beach. OMG movies are so unfair! support
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Mon Apr 05 10, 12:34PM categories: reviews > 2010 theatrical releases permalink 10 pre-Disqus comments Disqus comments infoMPAA: rated PG for thematic material, some violence, sensuality and mild language viewed at a public multiplex screening official site IMDB trailer more reviews at: Movie Review Query Engine dvdAmazon U.S. Amazon Canada Amazon U.K. tip jarshare
read morebased on a book coming of age drama girls/women romance teen related· March 31-April 2: DVD alternatives to this weekend’s multiplex offerings · trailer break: ‘The Last Song’ · today in studio asskissing: just try avoiding ‘The Hunger Games’ between now and March · The Hunger Games (teaser trailer) · Razzie nominations are in! · North American box office: cash of the ‘Titans’ · North American box office: ‘Clash’ drops titanically · my week at the movies: ‘Clash of the Titans,’ ‘The Last Song,’ ‘Kick-Ass’ · question of the day: What movie are you most looking forward to in April? · The Vow (review) bloggyprevious post: trailer break: ‘The Switch’ next post: watch it: “Sexism, Strength and Dominance: Masculinity in Disney Films “ |
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pre-Disqus comments
posted by Dana G (Mon Apr 05 10, 4:25PM)
Obviously you have not ready the book since the book focuses on four characters, Steve, Ronnie, Will and Marcus. I adore Greg Kinnear but the movie is based on the book so it has to focus on all of them. And if the character of Ronnie was played as "a brat of a teen (Miley Cyrus: Bolt) who thinks the world revolves around her" then that is exactly as the character was portrayed in the book.
posted by Nathan (Mon Apr 05 10, 5:40PM)
Dana, even if critics were to judge films based on how well they're adapted from the book (which they shouldn't), Sparks wrote the screenplay before he wrote the book; so there was no "have to" here.
posted by MaryAnn (Mon Apr 05 10, 6:43PM)
Clearly, Sparks' book should have been about the dad and the son, too. :->
posted by stryker1121 (Tue Apr 06 10, 10:17AM)
Oh no it's Nicholas Sparks--who dies this time at the altar of Sparks's schmaltz god?
posted by MaryAnn (Tue Apr 06 10, 11:40AM)
Do you really want to know?
*****SPOILER*****
(It's Greg Kinnear. He had got the cancer, and died on a Tuesday.)
*****SPOILER*****
posted by Nathan (Tue Apr 06 10, 6:43PM)
Cracked's take on the Nicholas Sparks formula
http://www.cracked.com/funny-4725-nicholas-sparks/
Jesus, this looks like the synopsis of a bad soap opera.
posted by Mimi (Fri Apr 09 10, 10:08PM)
(***semi-spoiler***)
Dammit, I liked Tolstoy and turtles, and I so did not get laid in high school, let alone by the hunky volleyball player or whatever. What was I doing wrong? Was my dad too healthy? Teach me, Miley!
posted by mfan (Sun Jul 25 10, 3:42AM)
Come on, you mean you didn't enjoy the part where Miley was driven to her dad's house as a passenger, but by the end of the film, she is more sure of herself and who she is, and is able to take the wheel and drive off by herself? Classic feminist moment!
I liked all the parts of the film that had Miley in it. I will definitely be buying the DVD, too. I support all of Miley's movies, and always will. People who don't know much about her don't seem to understand the amoount of goodwill she has earned, and won't damage that by being rude or negative. Go Miley!
posted by MaryAnn (Sun Jul 25 10, 2:41PM)
Between this comment, mfan, and your bizarre attitude about Selena Gomez, I'm beginning to suspect some trollishness...
posted by mfan (Tue Jul 27 10, 12:54PM)
I don't consider my attitude towards Selena to be bizarre. Fans of the four biggest current Disney stars were all one big happy family, mutually supporting one another, until Selena caused a huge controversy. This split the fans into factions that love nothing better than to throw grenades at one another. In short, she caused an fan war in which everyone was damaged. Not only will I never forgive her for that, but I don't think Disney will either. Outside of Wizards Of Waverly Place projects, which has been CANCELLED, she has no other Disney projects in developement, nor have I heard even the whispering of rumors of one.