Reel Critic:

If you have a daughter younger than 14, “awesome” is the word she’ll probably use when the two of you are leaving the theater after watching “Hannah Montana: the Movie.”

If you are older than 21, “juvenile” will probably be the word you pick. Say it politely so as not to interfere with the intellectual development and independent thinking skills of your child, because as dumb as most of the film may be, at least Disney has its heart in the right place.

It’s hard to believe that a major teen idol like Hannah would have been able to hide her true identity as Miley for so many years. In fact, the credibility gaps start from minute one, when “Miley” can’t get into the stadium where “Hannah” has a concert in 10 minutes, unless she steals a security guard golf cart to start the opening chase sequence.

Does no one in this teenager’s world plan anything ahead of time? Once in the stadium, of course, she can hit the stage going full blast. Are there never any sound checks? If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you could write a movie better than the ones you see at the theater, here’s your answer.

As you might expect, “Hannah Montana: the Movie” is a lot like “Hannah Montana” the television show, only with a better camera and more location shots. The basic idea is that fabulous teen star Hannah Montana is really small-town girl Miley Stewart (the wonderful and genuinely gifted Miley Cyrus, of course), who for some reason wanted legendary fame and anonymity without too many interviews.

But Miley’s head has gotten just a little too big for her blond Hannah Montana wig. In the course of one day in pursuit of fame and fortune as Hannah, Miley stands up her brother, her dad (real-life dad Billy Ray Cyrus), her grandmother and her best friend. Did I mention the shoe fight with Tyra Banks?

It’s not that Miley means to be mean. It’s just that Hannah, with what surely must be a pop-star personal fortune topping $5 million, can’t seem to afford a personal secretary, a cell phone or a pocket calendar. So Dad decides his little girl needs to visit her roots, a part of Tennessee so gorgeous it’s hard to believe any girl with her own horse would ever want to leave.

There Miley meets that gorgeous kid she knew from kindergarten (Lucas Till, reminding us that Robert Redford had to start somewhere). She also fights a local developer, avoids an annoying gossip magazine reporter and she puts on a concert — all in about 90 minutes.