Tween idol sings to the top of the charts

Hannah Montana goes more than a little bit country for her first (non-concert) big-screen outing, and the resulting Nashville/bubble gum fusion doesn't represent the best of both worlds.

Not that the tweens will mind the twang. Hannah Montana: The Movie is a can't-miss proposition for Disney, which is smartly striking while the iron is still reasonably hot.

At $34 million (Dh125m), its opening has already surpassed last year's $31.1m weekend box-office registered by Miley's all-singing Best of Both Worlds, with Cyrus's enthusiastic fan base ensuring brisk business.

The setup finds Miley Stewart (Cyrus) becoming a little too attached to her pop-star alter ego, much to the concern of her daddy (Billy Ray Cyrus), who orchestrates an intervention by taking a trip to her old Crowley Corners, Tennessee home.

Despite her protests, Miley gets into the swing of things, swapping glitter for gingham and striking up a potential romance with an aw-shucks cowboy (Lucas Till). But just when she's prepared to leave Hannah behind, along comes a greedy developer (Barry Bostwick) with plans to turn Main Street into a mall, and only one person comes to mind for a big benefit concert that will keep Crowley Corners' corners intact.

Miley's trek to Tennessee brings to mind the one taken by the Ricardos and the Mertzes when they met up with Cousin Ernie. While that was more than half a century ago, director Peter Chelsom (Hear My Song, Shall We Dance) and screenwriter Dan Berendsen (Cheetah Girls: One World), pretty much serve up the same brand of cornpone.

That's still preferable to misguided attempts at marrying Hannah's contemporary pop/hip-hop sound with the Grand Ole Opry, as in the squirm-inducing Hoedown Throwdown (don't ask), or extended scenes of deep introspection that bring things to a snail's crawl.

Still, there are sufficient pratfalls and Miley/Hannah quick-changes to satisfy the fans, while Cyrus retains that natural likability that made her a star in the first place.

In addition to regulars papa Cyrus, Emily Osment, Mitchel Musso and Jason Earles, there's Vanessa Williams as Hannah's overzealous publicist (doing a variation on her Ugly Betty character), Peter Gunn as a relentless tabloid reporter and Margo Martindale as Miley's salt-of-the-earth Grandma.

Rounding out the obligatory Cyrus songs, including the tender Glen Ballard/Alan Silvestri ballad Butterfly Fly Away, a duet with her dad, are "live" performances by Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift, who – see ya, Hannah – apparently is the person Miley Cyrus really wants to be when she grows up. We are not convinced.

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