The Visor

The Last Song falls short but stills tugs at viewer’s heartstrings

.

Last 5 stories in Entertainment

• Drive-ins Decline Across the US - October 16, 2011
• Homecoming transforms the castle into an inferno overnight - March 21, 2011
• Troubadours prepare for murder mystery comedy and fall play - October 12, 2010
• Les Misérables proves to be anything but miserable - May 17, 2010
• iPad, iTunes, iFail - April 23, 2010

Other stories that might interest you...

• Almost Alice pleasing to a multitude of listeners
• Kopp ‘fills a need’ by publishing short book
• Students participate in new summer reading discussions
• Going out on a dime
• Michael Jackson This Is It

April 22, 2010

Danielle Hale and Marie Hofer

Life, he realized, was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation but it’s in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile.”

It is nothing new to hear “the movie was not as good as the book”. When a book becomes a movie, it never follows the exact story line, even when the screenplays are written by the same author. But even with the discrepancies, The Last Song is definitely still worth viewers’ time.

Like in all novel-to-movie creations, many vital scenes and information that effected reader’s emotions were lacking, most likely due to time limits. Obviously in a 400 plus-page book every extra detail would make the hour and forty-seven minute movie much longer.

The Last Song begins when a troubled Ronnie and her little brother Jonah are forced to spend the summer at the beach with their father Steve. This all sounds like the perfect summer vacation except Ronnie passionately hates her estranged father and blames him for her parents’ divorce.

Ronnie continues to strain the relationship by quickly befriending the town’s disturbed loose cannon Blaze and her fire obsessed boyfriend Marcus, who is less than trustworthy.

And of course Will, the cocky athletic hunk, who manages to literally knock Ronnie off her feet the first time they meet.

Even with the discrepancies between the novel and movie, it still had a powerfully profound message about family, friendship and first loves that is sure to emotionally move its audience.

The Last Song is a lesson of forgiveness and acceptance. It shines a light onto the dangers of judging by appearances and makes audiences reflect on areas in their own life in which they need to dig below the surface.

If viewers choose to read the novel before seeing the movie, they would already be aware that tissues are a must when going to see this movie. It will make viewers laugh with tears of joy and cry bitter tears of sorrow and regret.

Many readers may feel resentment if they experience the novel before the movie, but as the Father in Sparks’ latest novel said, “You have to love something before you can hate it.”

Tags:

 Email This Post        Print This Post