Miley Cyrus: Finally old enough to hate

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:01:00 +0000

Movies based on Nicholas Sparks' novels have gotten a bad name, and unfairly so: As source material they've at least helped prolong the life of an endangered movie species, the romantic melodrama. Pictures like "Nights in Rodanthe," "Dear John" and "The Notebook" may have their flaws, but in cineplexes crowded with carelessly made action pictures and, increasingly, flashy-but-empty 3-D features, they at least cling to some tatters of a movie tradition forged by Douglas Sirk and Max Ophuls.

But not all Sparks adaptations are created equal, and the latest, "The Last Song," is less equal than most. There are a few decent performances here, most notably that of Greg Kinnear as Steve, a grizzled, beleaguered, divorced dad. But "The Last Song" -- which was directed by Julie Ann Robinson, from a screenplay by Sparks and Jeff van Wie -- doesn't even work as passable, tear-loosening melodrama, and the predictable plot mechanics aren't what make it insufferable. The big problem is Miley Cyrus.

Salon.com > The Last Song

Miley Cyrus: Finally old enough to hate