Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) is the most popular teen on the planet. This fabulously successful pop star walks into a room and is immediately surrounded by fans. She enjoys the attention, the surprises, and the pace of it all. Her pushy publicist (Vanessa Williams) wants to get as much mileage out of her celebrity status as possible. But Hannah has another identity — as Miley, who wants to be a normal teen. Miley's father (Billy Ray Cyrus) is concerned that his daughter's Hannah persona has come to dominate her life. It is Hannah's zeal for her career that causes her to be late for her best friend Lilly's (Emily Osment) Sweet 16 party. And it is her sense of entitlement that leads to a paparazzi-covered fight in a store with Tyra Banks over a pair of designer shoes.
Miley's father decides to take her back home to Crowley Quarters, Tennessee, for her grandmother's (Margo Martindale) birthday party, even though this means Hannah must miss a big appearance in New York. Down in the dumps, Miley feels sorry for herself until she meets Travis Brody (Lucas Till), childhood friend who is now a sweet and good-looking guy working for her grandmother on her farm. Still, Miley can't escape her double life. A reporter (Peter Gunn) for a sleazy publication is in town trying to dig up dirt about Hannah Montana. When Miley tells Travis that she knows the pop star, the townsfolk ask her to invite Hannah Montana to do a concert fundraiser to save the town from developers. Now her double life causes her a double dose of anxiety.
Peter Chelsom directs this movie that is carried by 13 songs and musical numbers. Fans of the immensely popular television series will enjoy the continuing fantasy of living an ordinary life through Miley and a pop star's life through Hannah. The spiritual theme of the movie is revealed in Miley's unexpected connection with her small Southern community. In his book A Conservationist Manifesto, Scott Russell Sanders writes: "What all of us long for, I suspect, is to love the places in which we live and to live in places worthy of love. . . . I believe that a renewed devotion to our home places might help us turn toward a saner, kinder, more peaceful and equitable world."
Miley rediscovers Crowley Quarters and comes to see that family and community are an important part of her identity as a girl, as a singer, and as a songwriter. One of the ballads she sings in the movie is a melodic gem called "Climb" which has this line: "Life's a climb but the view is great." Miley and Hannah learn that the journey is what matters and that who we are has a lot to do with where we come from.
Special features on the DVD include: "Find Your Way Back Home" - join the stars as they show you around their hometowns; "I Should Have Gone to Film School" - go behind the scenes with Jason Earles for movie secrets; a music video - "The Climb"; cast bloopers - "Fun With Hannah and the Gang"; deleted scenes; and an audio commentary on the film with director Peter Chelsom.
