Movie Review – Hannah Montana: The Movie

It’s been so long since I had to line up for a movie, I think the last time was for The Return of the King.  Yesterday, the theatre wasn’t sold out, but the line of parents with excited girls – some with plastic headset microphones, others with Hannah Montana T-shirts – made it clear which movie was doing big business yesterday, and when we left the theatre two hours later, another line waited anxiously to go inside.  I’ll be surprised if Hannah Montana:  The Movie doesn’t top the box office this weekend.

 Even parents who aren’t big fans of the music can be happy with the message of the movie.  Many kids’ movies are pure fun, and many kids’ movies relay life lessons in a heavy-handed fashion.  This movie finds a way to combine a lot of humor with a good message and be a solidly entertaining film.  One of the strengths of the writing is that they didn’t go for the short joke, the easy, quick gag, but set things in place that come back later to be very effective and very funny.

 In an era where so many little girls want to be Hannah Montana, the idea that Miley Stewart (as she’s known in the movie) would want to be Hannah Montana all the time isn’t that far-fetched.  In the beginning of the movie we see a girl who’s mischievous and fun, but is beginning to spiral out of control.  When she misses her best friend’s sixteenth birthday party, saying goodbye to her brother before he leaves for school, and gets splashed all over the tabloids after having a fight with Tyra Banks over a pair of shoes, her dad decides Hannah Montana has to go on vacation, and takes Miley home.

 What adds to the tension of Miley’s return home is that her best friend slipped and told a reporter where Hannah Montana grew up.  Miley is soon aware of the fact that the reporter is asking questions.  Add in the fact that a developer wants to build a mall and condos on a valuable piece of land in this quiet, country town, and Miley’s slip that she knows Hannah Montana, and she finds herself put on the spot to ask Hannah’s help in their fundraising efforts to save the land from the contractor.

 Along the way, Miley has discovered some of the simple joys in life, riding her horse, having fun with a friend, and has developed an attraction to a boy she knew from her childhood.  Grandma has been at work setting Miley’s dad up as well, but when Miley has to decide whether she’ll be Hannah Montana to save the land from the developer, or be Miley and finally go on a date with the boy of her dreams, she tries to have the best of both worlds and the result is a disaster that not only jeopardizes her relationship, but her father’s new-found romance as well.

 Although the culmination of the movie is expected, it isn’t dragged out.  I went in to this movie expected it to be a simple, straight-forward story that was a bit thin, bolstered by music, and peppered with teen angst.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It’s a good, solid movie that has a lot of funny parts, a lot of touching scenes, and there are some nice cameos from Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts.  

 Some of Bry’s favorite parts were when they ate lobster, which was very funny, and an early scene with Miley’s horse.  I asked her if she learned anything from the movie.  Her response:

“Be yourself.”  

Money and time well spent.

About Sandra_Ruttan

Described as "one of crime fiction's hot new voices" by Rick Mofina, Sandra Ruttan is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Spinetingler Magazine and her short fiction has appeared in Out of the Gutter, Crimespree Magazine, Pulp Pusher, Demolition, The Cynic and Mouth Full of Bullets. She had her first newspaper column at the age of 13 and launched the Nolan, Hart and Tain series with her book, WHAT BURNS WITHIN, earlier this year. In November '08 the second book in the series, THE FRAILTY OF FLESH, will be released.