The Last Song

(PG) WDSHE DVD/BD

The template for a Nicolas Sparks’ adaptation is now set in stone: two people meet from vastly different backgrounds, fall in love and learn to deal with that love in the real world of compromise before a tragedy befalls one or both, leaving lots of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In this case the mismatched couple are Ronnie Miller (Miley Cyrus) and Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth). He is from a well-to-do family and has his future clearly mapped out for him: a prestigious school before following in daddy’s footsteps. She is a rebel without a cause: a musical child prodigy with a great future ahead, outwardly making everybody’s life miserable.

Cyrus plays emotionally closed-off Ronnie well and, as her guard is let down during the course of the film, she opens up emotionally to her father through their shared love of music.

The film encourages us to treasure what we have because it can so quickly be taken away. Themes of love, acceptance and forgiveness ring true above the teenage angst.

Even a heart-wrenching denouement that seems a little forced will probably not ruin fans’ enjoyment of Cyrus’s first serious young adult role.

Adrian Drayton