The Last Song

You obviously need to know what you are getting: a Nicholas Sparks film framed as a hard-launch for Cyrus as bona-fide movie star, and despite some wobbly moments of melodrama, this is an overall successful endeavour, with Cyrus showing an inherent likability and charm navigating the journey from moody, bitchy teen to romantic lead fairly adroitly, and Sparks’ material not laying everything on too thick. Hemsworth and Cyrus lack genuine chemistry here (Cyrus could have saved herself a decade of angst if she’d been paying closer attention!), and leisurely pacing allows for far too many tiring narrative digressions (did Kinnear need to be both framed, *and* cop a death sentence?), but the scenery is pretty, and Cyrus’ performance carries the film over its rougher spots.