“The Last Song” wants to be a coming-of-age romance about a rebellious teen reconnecting with her estranged father. What it delivers is a thin, repetitive script padded out with a summer spent watching a sea turtle nest hatch.
Miley Cyrus plays Veronica “Ronnie” Miller, a 17-year-old who has not spoken to her father, Steve, since her parents divorced three years earlier. She is sent to Wrightsville Beach, Georgia, to live with him for the summer. There she meets Will Blakelee, a popular aquarium volunteer who becomes her love interest. The film is based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel and was adapted for the screen by Sparks and Jeff Van Wie.
The premise is simple. Ronnie learns to reconnect with her father through music, specifically the piano she once loved but abandoned after her father’s divorce. The problem is that the script never builds beyond that setup.
Trailer, via Walt Disney Studios Philippines.
The Problem With Ronnie
Cyrus is the lead, and the film depends on her carrying the emotional weight of a teenager growing up and falling in love. Critics singled out her performance as the weak link, arguing she was miscast in the lead role. Sparks himself worried about Cyrus taking on the part: “The first thing I thought when I finished the screenplay was, wow, I hope she can do this, this is a tough role because I’m bringing you through a whole gamut of emotion and you’re just a 16-year-old girl who’s done the Disney Channel. Are you able to do this as an actress?”
Cyrus did try to prepare. She worked with a dialect coach to lose her Southern accent and learned to play classical piano for the role. Her effort shows in isolated moments, but it is not enough to overcome the writing around her.
A Turtle Nest That Takes Over the Plot
The film’s central conflict is supposed to be Ronnie’s relationship with her father and her budding romance with Will. Instead, the plot spends a significant amount of time following Ronnie as she protects a loggerhead sea turtle nest from raccoons. The hatching of the eggs becomes a major set piece in the film’s final stretch.
This is a story about family, first love, and second chances. It gets lost behind a story about a turtle nest. The film’s tagline promises a moment that leads you back home, but the movie itself is too busy watching turtles to deliver on that promise.
Supporting Characters Add Nothing
Greg Kinnear plays Steve Miller, a former Juilliard professor and concert pianist who now lives quietly in his hometown after his divorce. His character is supposed to be the emotional center of the film, having separated from his family after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the script barely explores his grief. The character exists mainly to be reunited with his daughter.
Liam Hemsworth plays Will Blakelee, a popular beach volleyball player who volunteers at the Georgia Aquarium. He is Ronnie’s love interest, but the romance is underwritten. Their scenes together are pleasant, but they never develop into anything substantial. The supporting cast — including Bobby Coleman as Ronnie’s brother Jonah, Kelly Preston as their mother Kim, and Carly Chaikin as Blaze — are similarly underused.
The Reviews Were Unfavorable
The film received unfavorable reviews from critics, who criticized the script and Cyrus’ performance. Many argued she was miscast in the lead role. The film’s box office success did not change that judgment.
| Aspect | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Lead Performance | Underwhelming, misjudged casting |
| Script | Thin, repetitive, underdeveloped |
| Central Conflict | Lost behind a turtle nest |
| Emotional Weight | Not delivered |
| Box Office | Success despite poor reviews |
The film grossed $89 million worldwide against a $20 million budget, making it a box office success. That number does not change the quality of the film. It is a commercial triumph built on a hollow core.
A Summer Wasted
“The Last Song” is a film about a summer that changes a young woman’s life. It fails to capture the actual stakes of that change. The turtle nest becomes a substitute for the real drama, a stand-in for the growth that should have belonged to Ronnie.
The film is not a disaster. It is merely forgettable. It wastes a promising premise — a teen reconnecting with her estranged father through music — on a script that cannot support it.
The film’s final scenes return to the theme of family and first love, but the journey there is a slog. The turtle subplot crowds out the film’s central relationship. The film is better at selling its premise than delivering on it.
“The Last Song” is a cautionary tale about what happens when a story’s surface trumps its substance. It is a film about second chances that never quite earns its own.
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