Hannah Montana: The Movie Review

Last night I went to see Hannah Montana: The Movie with my sister and her family.  My niece, Katie, is 11 and loves High School Musical and Hannah Montana.  I have enjoyed the Hannah Montana TV show because years ago I fell in love with Billy Ray Cyrus and one day my best friend told me that the father/daughter duo in the show were father/daughter in real life.  I saw Miley perform Climb on the ACM Awards Show Sunday evening and then I saw her music video on the Disney channel.  When they showed the video it included clips of the movie and that made me want to see it more.

We went to the 7:00 show and by the time all the previews played the theater was almost packed.  There were a variety of ages and groups represented.  Yes, it was mostly ladies with younger girls but then there were groups of teenagers (guys and girls) and college age girls and then couples without children.  So what was the fascination?  Perhaps for some it was the thrill of seeing Miley Cyrus, to others seeing "Hannah Montana" and maybe to others; the desire to see Billy Ray.

The main cast of the movie are:

• Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana
• Billy Ray Cyrus as RobbyRay Stewart
• Jason Earles as Jackson Stewart
• Emily Osment as Lily
• Margo Martindale as Grandma Ruby
• Lucas Till as Travis Brody
• Vanessa Williams as Vita
• Melora Hardin as Lorelai
• Peter Gunn as Oswald Granger
• Mitchell Musso as Oliver Oken
• Moises Arias as Rico

Miley's life is out of control.  She has so many concerts, talk shows to appear on and award shows to attend that her dad thinks she just needs to take a break.  He wants her to go to her grandmother's birthday party but she says she can't because she needs to be at an awards show in New York.  Well, her daddy has different plans for her and hires a private jet to take her where?  None other than Crowley Meadows, Tennessee!  When she steps off the plane she sees a cow pasture.  Hello, this is not New York.

When they arrive in Crowley Meadows they soon discover that someone is trying to buy the town to turn it into a mall and parking lot.  Miley has a boyfriend (Lucas/Travis) believing that she is really good friends with Hannah Montana so he volunteers her to get her friend to do a benefit concert to save the town.  From this point forward it is a barrel of laughs with a few tears.

• Hannah's entrance onto the stage.
• The "King" is alive and well...
• Jackson working at a petting zoo.
• Lily and Miley switching places.
• Trying to be in two places at the same time.
• The ho-down dance and many more.

An English journalist, Oswald Granger, is always in hot pursuit of Hannah Montana to see if he can get a good story.  Well, he overhears her say no one can ever know her secret so he sets out on a mission to find out what that secret is.  Most of his adventures are a handful of mishaps.  Does he discover the secret?  You will have to watch the movie to find out. 

Miley and Robby Ray also have little love interests in the movie but these storylines aren't enough to overtake the movie.  Lucas Till is a hottie and teenage girls may want to see the movie just to see him in action.  Melora Hardin is Robby Ray's love interest.  Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts make guest appearances but they don't do enough to divert the attention from the main cast.  As the music is performed throughout the movie you will believe that it couldn't have been a better production.  

At one point Miley has a heart-to-heart chat with her father and she talks about not really knowing who she is anymore.  He encourages her to get back in touch with her roots and rediscover why she first began performing and why she enjoyed it so much.  During this part of the movie it was hard to know if this was a subliminal message to the audience.  You can't help but wonder if Miley is really preparing herself for the show to come to an end and for her to pursue other dreams.  There have been rumors that Miley is ready to quit the Hannah Montana show so that she can focus on her music career and move toward a more adult career.  Billy Ray has even discussed the great toll it took on the family to uproot them in 2006 so that Miley could be on the show.

 What happens when someone does discover that Miley and Hannah Montana are one in the same?  Watch the movie to see how Miley and the people handle this new discovery.

I really enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would.  I wanted to see the movie and called my sister to see if I could take my niece.  When I found out they were going as a family I asked if I could join them.  Young girls will enjoy the movie and fall in love with Hannah Montana all over again.  Parents, if you are okay with Miley Cyrus's character, Hannah Montana, you won't have a problem allowing your child to watch this.  There was no language, sex or violence. 

This movie reinforces the old cliché: Give your children roots and wings.  Roots to know where they came from and wings to fly.  I won't rush out to buy this movie when it is released on DVD but once the price comes down I will add it to my collection because it's a movie that the younger girls in my life will probably watch over and over for the next few years.    

For the record, as of July 2nd, I have seen this movie four times in the theater.  Yes, it's that good!