It's been years since my family got the Disney Channel, so I was a bit
late to discover Hannah Montana. I first heard of her a couple years ago
when her calendars started flying off the shelves at the kiosk where I
was working. I soon realized that she was the Next Big Thing among
tweens, but my own experience with her has remained limited to
television guest appearances. This week, I finally got a whopping dose
of Hannah when I went to her movie in the company of a very ardent fan.
Now at least I have a better idea of what all the hype is about.
Hannah Montana: The Movie
is a G-rated adventure with a storyline that Disney and other
family-friendly filmmakers have used time and again. Unassuming kid hits
the big time and lets it go to her head; by the end of the movie, she's
developed a renewed appreciation for her roots. It's nothing new, but
it's a logical angle to take for a film about a superstar trying to live
a normal life. As the film begins, we find Robby Ray Stewart (Billy Ray
Cyrus) concerned that his daughter Miley (Miley Cyrus) is getting too
caught up in her Hannah Montana act. She's starting to act like a diva:
ignoring commitments to family and friends, fighting with supermodels
over shoes and just generally being rather obnoxious. It's time for an
intervention. Can a couple of weeks as plain old Miley in her
grandmother's (Margo Martindale) farmhouse in her tiny hometown of
Crowley Corners, TN, cure her of her egotism?
The impression I
got from what I've heard about the show is that Miley is a pretty
grounded young woman; it seems her poor behavior is a recent
development. And it's problematic enough to convince her dad to out-fox
her conniving agent Vita (Vanessa Williams) and force his daughter to
blow off a major awards ceremony in favor of Grandma's birthday party.
That doesn't strike me as very responsible, despite his good intentions;
it's one of many plot devices that fall just a tad flat. Other
eyebrow-raising moments in the first few minutes include a confusing
transition from a concert to a video shoot and a bit about Miley's
brother Jackson (Jason Earles) heading off to college, though nothing in
the rest of the movie seems to indicate that he's doing anything other
than working at a small-town zoo.
Jackson's animal antics
amused me, particularly because an ostrich is involved at one point, but
the character serves little purpose in the film other than to take
pratfalls, which include crashing to the ground from the top of a
ladder, nearly being bitten by an alligator and trying to shake off a
ferret that has wound up entangled in his clothing. Pa Stewart is pretty
clumsy too, especially in one wince-worthy scene toward the beginning,
but his character has considerably more depth. Much of the film is about
his attempts to reconnect with his daughter while navigating a possible
new romance with alluring local Lorelai (Melora Hardin). Meanwhile,
Miley, who also seems to have inherited the family klutz gene, rekindles
a friendship with her childhood buddy Travis (Lucas Till, who doesn't
sing or dance but still may find himself the next Zac Efron-like teen
dream), now a handsome ranch hand. Travis's aw-shucks manner and dimply
grin endeared him to me quickly, making the teen romance angle the most
interesting element of the story for me, though I also appreciated the
emphasis on the importance of family.
There is, of course, a
lot of singing in the movie, most of it done by Miley. Her performances
are mostly fun and bubblegumish, occasionally reflective. Her
countrified, motion-heavy Hoedown Throwdown, which she appears to have made up off the top of her head, seems destined to be this summer's Macarena. Also popping up in the film are the members of Rascal Flatts doing a down-home, folksy rendition of their hit God Blessed the Broken Road
and Taylor Swift with a song that affords Miley and Travis the
opportunity for their first slow dance. I found the flashiness of some
of the concert scenes annoying - and the instant costume changes
inexplicable - but Cyrus's voice is pleasant enough - when she's
singing, anyway. While her speaking voice didn't make much of an
impression on me, my mom found it grating. I couldn't tell if there was a
huge difference between Hannah and Miley's speaking voices; I thought
she seemed to have more of a twang as Miley, but I'm not sure that was
consistent. As with Superman, I certainly question how nobody realizes
that Miley and Hannah are the same person. The main difference between
them seems to be that Hannah has a blonde wig and excessive makeup.
In the tradition of many corny live-action Disney flicks, Hannah Montana: The Movie
features several bumbling villains. One, a developer named Mr. Bradley
(Barry Bostwick) who wants to turn Crowley Corners' bucolic meadows into
a megamall, is essentially a retread of Alonzo Hawk from the Herbie
movies. British tabloid reporter Oswald Granger (Peter Gunn) is rather
like 101 Dalmatians' hapless Horace and Jasper; he even works for
a foul woman reminiscent of Cruella De Vil. Needless to say, their
threat level is minimal, though Mr. Bradley introduces some conflict
when Miley is compelled to bring Hannah Montana to Tennessee for a
benefit concert. Though her best friend Lilly (Emily Osment) is on hand
to help her be two people at once, complications naturally arise. Their
eventual resolution stretches believability beyond reasonable limits,
but at least the requisite happy ending is achieved.
I enjoyed
this movie well enough, and I imagine that most fans of the show will
eat it right up like my friend did. In a movie landscape in which G
ratings are increasingly rare, I appreciate how inoffensive the film is.
It promotes wholesome values, and the romance between Travis and Miley
is sweet and reminds me of the puppy love storyline in Princess Diaries, which I thought was terrific. Yes, just about every aspect of this movie reminds me of another film, usually a better one; Hannah Montana: The Movie
is derivative to the max, and screenwriter Daniel Berendsen doesn't
seem to give viewers much credit for being able to pick up on plot
absurdities and inconsistencies. This movie won't be taking home any
Oscars next year. But I bet it'll clean up at the Teen Choice Awards,
which should be enough to satisfy the famous songstress and her
admirers.
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