Nicolas (The Notebook) Sparks has done it again, tear-jerker and all, but this time with a little less sap and a lot more reality about family secrets. On the surface people look fine, but it’s what goes on behind closed doors…And so one summer day, rebellious and distant teenager Ronnie Miller (Miley Cyrus) is sent with her little brother, Jonah (Bobby Coleman) to visit her estranged father (Greg Kinnear). Her parents are divorced. Apparently he lives down south in a beach house, while the kids and their mom (Kelly Preston) live in NYC. Ronnie hates school, hates her friends and hates her life. Even a piano comes between Ronnie and her dad. He can play, she can play, but she refuses to play, despite being accepted at Julliard. She’s holding a grudge. Her father bailed on them as small children and she never even opened up the many letters he sent her. But the movie isn’t annoying, or trying to slam the realities of divorce down your face. It just sets up a premise that moves into a solid story very quickly. In an early-on scene, Ronnie softens when a raccoon attacks baby turtle eggs on the beach. The significance of protecting life begins the secondary story of a beautifully set up film that continues to deliver many secrets, twists and turns right to the end. . In other words…all the money in the world can’t buy happiness but beyond that there’s not a price tag one can put on mortality. And, Ronnie may even start playing piano again. Like she never stopped. The most important thing you can do as an audience, aside from bring a box of tissues, is to forget who the formidable teen idol Cyrus is from Hannah Montana to her singing hits. She’s pretty spectacular in the ordinary. And the boy, named Will (Liam Hemsworth) – because there always is a summer love – is pretty spectacular, too. Cyrus playing Ronnie in The Last Song might have a new set of problems besides holding up a Wallmart clothing line. She now will have to worry about a movie career. Her foggy voice, her tomboy girl-next-door way, her round angelic face….move over Kristen Stewart. Three and a half tiaras
