#5The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (Film) Review

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In The New York Times, A. O. Scott writes a review about The Last Song film on March 31, 2010. First, the reviewer wrote about the author Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks in the past had wrote books that were also put into films. In 2010, he had two of his books become a film, "We have already had two this year — "Dear John" and this one" (Scott). Then the reviewer gave a short summary about the book and talked about the characters. Ronnie had recently graduated from highschool and her parents divorced so she and her brother have some distress. Ronnie then meets a boy named Will who mechanic, a volunteer at the local aquarium and a young man that also has family problems. The reviewer says that "One major problem with “The Last Song” is that it can’t manage to sort through its various issues in any dramatically compelling way, instead falling into a slack, soap-opera rhythm in which potentially catastrophic developments seem to have no lasting emotional effects" (Scott). I agree with this because when I watched the movie, I didn't think the character expressed their feelings that well. Their facial expressions were blank for the most part and I was able to know the characters better from reading the book. Another problem mentioned about the film is, "But acting, for the moment at least, seems almost entirely beyond her. In “The Last Song” she pouts, slouches, storms in and out of rooms and occasionally cracks a snaggle-toothed smile, but most of the time she seems to be mugging for the camera, play-acting rather than exploring the motives and feelings of her character" (Scott). I also agree with this because I didn't think Miley Cyrus would be the best actress for this. In my 4th blog, I mentioned that another person should of played the role because it seemed like Miley had a hard time showing her expressions. Another thing I agree with the reviewer is the scene for the movie. He said he liked the beach because it was a nice place to spend the summer and for people to fall in love. I liked this review because I agreed with everything that was said.

Works Cited:

Scott, A. O. "Movie Review - The Last Song - Summer Love, a Sea of Trouble -
           NYTimes.com." Movie Reviews, Showtimes and Trailers - Movies - New York Times -            The New York Times. 19 Feb. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2011.
          <http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/movies/31last.html?scp=1&sq=the last
          song&st=cse>.

#4The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (Film) Reaction

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The film of The Last Song wasn’t as interesting as the book. The main actor was Miley Cyrus who played the role of Ronnie. Even though there were many close-up’s of characters, it was hard to figure out what a person was thinking and what was going on inside their head. The setting of the novel I thought was perfect. The main places there were scenes were the beach, beach house, and carnivals in the small town. There were a few long shots, that showed the beach and small town from a far distance, and many people were seen in the location. There were some changes and things that weren’t in the movie but in the book that I was shocked by. I was shocked when the book revealed that the mom had an affair with another man which left the father to leave. The film let watchers believe that Steve left the family for no reason. The ending of the book and film were also different. My favorite part was when Ronnie and Will kissed for the first time. First, they were arguing, so the camera was had shot reverse shots really quick, then Will leaned over to kiss Ronnie and the camera was on iris.  They were on the beach, and I was able to hear to ocean and waves in the background while they were arguing, and then they kissed, music came on. A scene that I thought was so touching was when Jonah found his dad will be dying, he stood by the shore, having watch touch his feet looking upset and angry, and Ronnie came from behind to comfort him. The camera was pointed on a low angle shot. I also liked the ending of the book because Ronnie ended up going to Julliard and Will surprised her about transferring to Colombia. The ending in the film was Ronnie packing up and Will just shows up at the beach. It didn’t let us know what would happen in the future. I personally thought the book was better than the film. Even though I liked the film, I thought there should have been another character playing Ronnie instead of Miley Cyrus. I didn’t think her acting was as great as she was on Hannah Montana.

#3The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (Book) Pages 325-463

Summary:

At Will’s volleyball game, Marcus was playing with fireballs and Blaze later joined. One of the fireballs hit her shirt and she was on fire. She was brought to the hospital and had to get surgery. Blaze mom visited her white she was getting better and she wanted her to stay away from Marcus because he was trouble. Will and Scott are at work, and they get into an argument. Will is tired of covering for Scott because Marcus keeps playing them. Ronnie. Will goes over Ronnie’s house and the turtles hatch out of their shells. As the turtles are swimming to the sea, Ronnie’s dad Steve keeps coughing and blood is coming out of his mouth. It turned out that Steve had received his death sentence in February. Before the summer, the taught a student Chan Lee piano, but he had to stop because he became tired and lost energy, He started to take daily naps, and when he’d wake up, there was pain in his stomach. When he went to the doctors, Steve was told he had stomach cancer, which his father had also had. He had less than a year to live. He called Kim (ex-wife) to tell her the news and asked if the kids could stay with him for the summer. Ronnie found out at the hospital, upset, but she forgives Steve for not telling her. Will stays with Ronnie at her house, and he could feel her pain because he lost someone too. He was there to comfort her. Ronnie had been thinking a lot because her father was sick, and Will was leaving in a couple days for college. Will and Ronnie went to see what Jonah was going. He was bleeding and his jeans were ripped. He was working on the glass for the church, he was crying because he wanted to finish it before Steve gets back. Will decided to help and he decided to tell Ronnie the truth about why the church burned down. It turned out that Scott was playing with fire and I caused to the church to fire. He left before anyone could find out and Will was only covering for him. Ronnie became angry and shut Will out. It has been two months and Kim picks the kids up. Ronnie decided to stay to help out her dad. Kim and Ronnie talk, she found out Steve left because it was the mom who was having an affair. Jonas went home with Kim because he needed to start school soon. Blaze and Ronnie run into each other, and Blaze told her that it was Marcus who really started to fire. The glass was ready to be put up on the church. Throughout the time, Ronnie was taking care of Steve and he became skinner and started to spend more time in bed. Ronnie had also been playing the piano, finishing the song Steve had been writing. Ronnie played the song on the piano for him when he got back. It was great for Steve to hear Ronnie play the piano. I was the last song he wrote, and heard. He died a week later, in his sleep. The funeral occurred a few days later. Light shined through the glass and Jonah and Ronnie knew their dad was there. The light faded and they said silent goodbyes. She played the song on the piano. Will was there and they talked for awhile. He told her Scott was doing okay and Marcus is in jail. They both didn’t want the summer to have ended the way it did. Few weeks after the funeral, Ronnie was back home in New York. She hid her pain of losing her dad. She and Jonah spent more time together. Ronnie also auditioned at Julliard and Will had surprised her. He planned a date for the weekend, and the weekend after. He told her he was staying in New York because he was transferring to Colombia. 

Quote:

"I was so mean to him. I quit the piano! I blamed him for everything, and I didn't say more than a few words to him for three years! Three years! And i can't get those years back. But maybe if I hadn't been so angry, he might not have gotten sick" (Sparks 379).

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Ronnie blames herself about her father's stomach cancer. I think this was one of the deepest parts of the book because I can see Ronnie's reaction when she found out her father had cancer. She thought about the past and felt bad for not talking to him for three years. I could see Ronnie breaking down crying in my head.